AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL 
TEACHING 


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THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •   BOSTON  •   CHICAGO   •  DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •  SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON   •  BOMBAY   •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH 
SCHOOL  TEACHING 


BY 
STEPHEN  SHELDON  COLVIN 

PROFESSOR  OF  EDUCATIONAL  PSYCHOLOGY  IN  BROWN  UNIVERSITY 

'AND  INSPECTOR  OF  HIGH  SCHOOLS  FOR  THE  STATE  OF 

RHODE  ISLAND 

AUTHOR  OF  "  THE  LEARNING  PROCESS,"  ETC. 


THE  MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

1917 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1917, 
Bt  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  September,  1917, 
Reprinted  December,  1917. 


Notfooafi  tyvtu 
Berwick  &  Smith  Co.,  Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 


The  following  pages  have  been  written  with  the  purpose  con- 
stantly in  mind  of  giving  practical  help  to  those  young  men  and 
women  in  our  colleges  and  universities  who  are  soon  to  enter 
upon  the  work  of  high  school  teachers.  The  topics  treated  and 
the  materials  selected  have  been  chosen  with  this  object  in  view. 
The  writer  has  continually  asked  himself  this  question,  "What 
ought  the  beginning  high  school  teacher  most  of  all  to  know  in 
advance  of  entering  upon  his  profession?  "  The  author  believes 
that  the  prospective  teacher  should  have  some  conception  of 
what  the  present  day  high  school  is  and  what  it  aims  to  be;  that 
he  should  know  something _  about the  pupils  that  he  will  meet  in 
his  classrooms;  that  he  should  have  formed  certain  professional 
ideals  and  should  possess  certain  ambitions,  and  that  he  should 
be  acquainted  in  some  detail  with  the  problems  of  class  manage- 
ment and  of  instruction.  There  is  much  more  that  is  desirable 
but  less  essential  for  him  to  know  in  advance  of  his  actual  teach- 
ing. 

This  book  emphasizes  particularly  general  methods  of  instruc- 
tion as  they  apply  to  the  high  school.  It  has  not,  however,  at- 
tempted to  treat  under  separate  topics  instruction  in  special 
subjects.  This  problem  has  already  been  adequately  treated 
in  Monroe's  Principles  of  Secondary  Education,  and  in  John- 
ston's High  School  Education,  as  well  as  in  many  books  dealing 
specifically  with  the  various  studies  of  the  high  school  curricu- 
lum. The  student  preparing  to  teach  in  any  particular  field, 
should  obviously  acquaint  himself  not  only  with  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  instruction,  but  also  with  the  details  of  instruction  in 
his  chosen  subjects. 

This  book  has  little  to  say  about  high  school  organization  and 


VI  PREFACE 

administration.  These  matters  while  of  importance  to  the 
teacher,  are  the  primary  concern  of  principals  and  supervisors. 
Further,  they  have  been  extensively  considered  by  Hollister  in 
his  books,  High  School  Administration,  and  High  School  and 
Class  Management. 

The  writer  believes  that  all  instruction  should  be  definite  and 
concrete, — that  it  should  be  accompanied  by  a  wealth  of  illus- 
tration, and  that  it  should  issue  in  many  practical  applications. 
A  helpful  book  likewise  should  possess  these  virtues.  For  this 
reason  a  large  number  of  specific  examples  have  been  incorpo- 
rated in  the  text  with  the  hope  of  giving  point  to  the  various 
facts  and  principles  therein  discussed.  All  of  these  examples 
have  been  taken  from  actual  classroom  practice.  They  have 
been  chosen  from  thousands  collected  by  the  author,  who  during 
the  past  five  years  has  visited  scores  of  high  schools  and  hundreds 
of  classes.  To  this  extent  the  book  employs  the  "case  method " 
of  exposition,  and  to  this  extent,  at  least,  it  is  the  record  of 
practical  experience. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  book  is  placed  a  selected  bibliography, 
through  reference  to  which  the  student  may  be  guided  in  his 
further  consideration  of  the  various  topics  discussed  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages.  By  the  use  of  this  bibliography  the  scope  of  the 
book  may  be  enlarged  in  any  desired  direction. 

In  the  Appendix  have  been  included  a  detailed  outline  to  be 
used  in  connection  with  observations  of  teaching  in  the  grades 
and  in  the  high  school,  and  also  samples  of  typical  lesson  plans. 
It  is  hoped  that  those  instructors  who  wish  to  apply  in  practice 
with  their  classes  the  matters  considered  in  this  book  will  find 
these  additions  suggestive  and  helpful. 

The  writer  is  indebted  to  many  persons  for  aid  in  writing  this 
book,  but  he  finds  himself  under  obligation  above  all  to  the 
hundred  young  men  and  women  who  as  graduate  students  in 
Brown  University,  have  during  the  past  years  worked  as  practice 
teachers  in  various  high  schools  of  Rhode  Island,  and  whom  it 


PREFACE  Vll 

has  been  his  good  fortune  to  direct.  The  writer  hopes  that  they 
may  have  learned  something  from  him;  he  is  conscious  that  he 
has  learned  much  from  them.  He  is  also  indebted  to  the  critic 
teachers  who  have  supervised  the  work  of  these  beginners,  and 
who  have  given  him  many  valuable  suggestions. 

Among  the  various  books  and  articles  that  have  been  of  great 
assistance  to  the  author  he  wishes  first  to  mention  the  writings 
of  his  friend  and  former  colleague,  Professor  W.  C.  Bagley,  and  in 
particular  his  recent  book  on  School  Discipline.  The  book  by 
Professor  S.  C.  Parker  on  Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools 
has  also  been  extremely  helpful.  Much  of  the  material  in- 
cluded in  the  following  pages  had  been  collected,  some  of  the 
chapters  written,  and  the  remainder  outlined  when  Professor 
Parkers  book  appeared.  It  was  with  much  pleasure  that  the 
author  of  the  present  discussion  found  himself  in  substantial 
agreement  with  Professor  Parker  concerning  many  of  the  most 
vital  questions  relating  to  high  school  method.  The  writer  is 
also  indebted  to  Dr.  Romiett  Stevens,  who  in  her  monograph, 
The  Question  as  a  Measure  of  Efficiency  in  Instruction  has  fur- 
nished him  with  much  concrete  material  and  many  important 
suggestions  in  regard  to  the  question  as  a  method  of  instruction. 

The  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  the  material  assistance 
rendered  him  by  Mr.  Wayne  P.  Smith,  who  has  read  the  book 
in  manuscript  and  has  given  him  important  advice,  and  by  Miss 
Grace  E.  Bird,  who  has  read  the  book  both  in  manuscript  and 
in  proof,  and  who  has  been  untiring  in  her  help  and  criticism  in 
the  details  of  composition. 

In  conclusion  the  author  ventures  to  express  the  hope  that 
although  this  book  has  been  written  primarily  for  the  college 
student  about  to  begin  teaching,  it  will  prove  of  value  to  the 
young  teacher  in  the  first  years  of  service  and  also  to  the  older 
and  more  experienced  high  school  instructor. 

Stephen  S.  Colvin. 

Brown  University,  July  15,  1917. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

The  Nature  and  Scope  of  Secondary  Education  i 

The  term  secondary  education  has  broad  application. — Sec- 
ondary schools  of  American  and  Europe  when  compared  show  the 
following  essential  differences:  (a)  The  secondary  school  of  Europe 
differs  from  that  of  America  in  the  fact  that  the  former  is  not  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  elementary  school,  (b)  While  the  secondary 
schools  of  America  are  democratic,  those  of  Europe  are  aristo- 
cratic, (c)  The  secondary  schools  of  America  offer  a  more  varied 
program  of  studies  than  do  the  secondary  schools  of  Europe, 
(d)  The  secondary  school  of  Europe  is  a  fee  school,  while  the  sec- 
ondary school  of  America  is  generally  a  free  school. — The  high 
school  is  the'' typical  secondary  school  in  America. — The  aims  of 
the  American  secondary  school  are  varied. — The  trend  toward  vo- 
cational education  in  our  high  schools  is  pronounced:  (a)  While 
the  American  high  school  strives  to  accomplish  many  things,  it  is 
today  turning  its  attention  more  and  more  to  some  form  of  voca- 
tional education,  (b)  This  vocational  trend  is  toward  an  education 
that  is  practical,  but  at  the  same  time  cultural  and  disciplinary. — 
Typical  courses  of  study  in  the  high  school  are:  (a)  The  college 
preparatory  and  general  cultural  courses,  (b)  Pre-vocational 
courses,  (c)  Semi-vocational  and  vocational  courses. — High 
schools  are  organized  in  reference  to  courses  of  study  as  follows: 
(a)  High  schools  offering  a  number  of  separate  courses,  (b)  High 
schools  offering  a  wide  range  of  electives.  (c)  High  schools  offering 
a  few  definitely  restricted  and  highly  organized  courses  of  study. — 
The  size  of  the  American  high  school  varies  over  a  wide  range. — 
Among  present  tendencies  in  secondary  education  in  America  are: 
(a)  Part-time  courses,  (b)  Continuation  courses,  (c)  Evening 
courses,  (d)  Credit  for  home  work,  (e)  The  junior  high  school.  , 
(f)  The  junior  college. — Conservatism  is  still  pronounced  in  second- 
ary education  throughout  the  United  States. 

ix 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  II 

The  High  School  Pupil 21 

The  teacher  must  know  the  pupil. — The  high  school  pupil  is  an 
adolescent. — The  most  important  characteristics  of  adolescence 
are:  (a)  Adolescence  is  a  period  of  mental  and  physical  change, 
(b)  Bodily  development  during  this  period  is  closely  related  to 
questions  of  hygiene  and  discipline,  (c)  Various  instinctive 
tendencies  manifest  themselves  with  great  strength.  Among 
these  are  tendencies  that  center  around  sex,  the  so-called  "mi- 
gratory instinct,"  the  gregarious  instinct,  and  the  social  instincts, 
(d)  Youth  is  a  period  of  intense,  though  often  conflicting  and  fluc- 
tuating interests.  At  this  time  the  vocational  interest  looms 
large,  intellectual  ideals  stand  out  strongly,  curiosity  and  invent- 
iveness are  powerful,  and  the  aesthetic,  moral,  and  religious  inter- 
ests assume  an  important  place. — The  enrollment  in  our  American 
high  schools  includes  pupils  of  varying  social  status,  and  decided 
differences  in  abilities. — The  elimination  of  high  school  pupils  is 
marked. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  High  School  Teacher 41 

The  American  high  school  teacher  does  not  conform  to  any  one 
type. — The  preparation  of  the  American  high  school  teacher  is 
inadequate:  (a)  The  European  secondary  school  teacher  is  trained 
for  a  life  profession,  (b)  The  American  high  school  teacher  re- 
ceives but  a  small  amount  of  special  preparation  for  his  work. — 
The  reason  for  this  lack  of  preparation  is  due  to  various  causes. — 
Agencies  for  training  secondary  teachers  are  inadequate  but  in- 
creasing in  number  and  efficiency. — The  salary  of  the  high  school 
teacher  is  comparatively  small. — The  success  of  the  high  school 
teacher  depends  upon  various  factors:  (a)  Success  as  measured  by 
salary  received,  (b)  Success  as  measured  by  the  judgment  of  su- 
pervising officers,  (c)  Success  as  measured  by  the  opinion  of 
pupils. — Professional  attitudes  and  ideals  are  important  factors  in 
the  success  of  the  teacher.  Chief  among  these  are  the  ideals  of 
service,  loyalty,  and  high  achievement. — Summary  of  the  fore- 
going discussion  furnishes  a  composite  photograph  of  the  ideal 
teacher. 


CONTENTS  XI 

CHAPTER  IV 

PAGE 

Discipline  in  the  High  School. — Indirect  Control  .         .      59 

The  problem  of  discipline  is  of  primary  importance  for  the  Amer- 
ican high  school  teacher. — As  a  rule,  the  pupils  in  our  high  schools 
lack  a  compelling  motive. — In  far  too  many  cases  the  attitude  of 
the  home  and  the  community  toward  the  work  of  the  pupil  lacks 
seriousness. — The  high  school  teacher  must  of  his  own  initiative 
attempt  to  create  the  proper  attitude  toward  school  work. — In  the 
best  controlled  class  the  problem  of  discipline  is  not  obvious. 
Some  of  the  causes  contributing  to  this  result  are:  (a)  The 
smoothly  running  class  is  the  class  in  which  all  of  the  pupils  are 
doing  rigorous  mental  work.  In  order  to  obtain  this  mental  alert- 
ness, the  teacher  should  observe  the  following  maxims, — 1.  Begin 
each  class  exercise  with  vigor  and  promptness.  2.  Strive  to  keep 
each  member  of  the  class  busy  during  the  entire  period.  3.  Have 
some  system  of  holding  every  member  of  the  class  responsible  for 
all  that  takes  place  during  the  class  period.  4.  The  teacher  must 
hear  all  and  see  all  that  is  happening  in  the  class  all  of  the  time, 
(b)  In  the  smoothly  running  class  the  pupils  are  interested  in  their 
work.  Interest  is  not  mere  entertainment;  it  is  not  opposed  to  ef- 
fort. Various  interests  may  be  appealed  to.  Some  of  these  have 
been  discussed  in  Chapter  II.*  Others  are  the  impulse  to  manip- 
ulate, the  desire  for  excellence,  the  "property  instinct,"  the  in- 
stinct of  rivalry,  and  the  pleasure  in  physical  and  mental  activity. 
Interest  is  more  readily  aroused  when  the  attention  of  the  learner  is 
concentrated  on  the  thing  to  be  accomplished  than  when  it  is  oc- 
cupied with  the  details  that  lead  to  accomplishment.  Interest  cen- 
ters more  in  the  concrete  than  in  the  abstract.  Interest  is  depend- 
ent not  merely  on  the  facts  presented,  but  on  the  interpretation  of 
them.  Interest  is  stimulated  to  the  extent  that  the  learner  is  a 
doer.  Interest  in  the  last  analysis  is  a  personal  matter,  (c)  In  the 
smoothly  running  class  the  teacher  is  the  master. 

CHAPTER  V 

Discipline  in  the  High  School. — Direct  Control  S3 

The  problem  of  direct  disciplinary  control  is  likely  to  arise  at 
times  even  under  the  most  favorable  conditions. — Types  of  dis- 
ciplinary problems  are:  (a)  The  incipiently  disorderly  class,  (b) 
The  actively  disorderly  class,     (c)  The  aggressively  disorderly 


XU  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

class,  (d)  The  disorderly  pupil,  (e)  The  pupil  in  rebellion.  (f)The 
vicious  pupil. — Types  of  disciplinary  control  are:  (a)  Control 
through  discussion,  (b)  Control  through  counter-attraction, 
(c)  Control  through  regulation  of  the  environment,  (d)  Control 
through  catharsis,    (e)  Control  through  modification  of  behavior. 


CHAPTER  VI 


0 


Discipline  in  the  High  School. — The  Function  of  Punishment  105 

Punishment,  although  the  last  resort,  is  often  a  necessary  means 
of  class  control. — Punishment  is  of  two  main  kinds,  natural  and 
artificial:  (a)  Natural  punishment  has  certain  clear  advantages 
over  artificial  punishment,  (b)  Artificial  punishment  must  strive 
to  secure  the  advantages  of  natural  punishment,  and  at  the  same 
time  avoid  its  dangers  and  faults,  (c)  Artificial  punishment  must 
be  a  real  punishment,  not  a  pretense  at  punishment,  (d)  Artificial 
punishment  must  follow  the  offence  with  as  little  delay  as  possible, 
(e)  In  cases  of  school  discipline,  artificial  punishment  should 
usually  be  administered  by  the  teacher  against  whom  the  offence  is 
committed. — Punishment  has  a  double  purpose,  punitive  and 
corrective. — Types  of  school  punishment  are:  (a)  Corporal  pun- 
ishment, (b)  Keeping  the  pupil  after  school,  (c)  Dismissal  from 
the  class,  (d)  Removal  of  privileges,  (e)  Isolation  of  the  offending 
pupil,  (f)  Reproof,  (g)  Sarcasm  and  contempt,  (h)  Appeal  to 
parents. — Important  maxims  of  discipline  are:  (a)  The  teacher 
should  always  strive  to  enforce  the  control  of  his  classes  by  indirect 
means,  (b)  If  direct  control  is  necessary,  punishment  should  be 
avoided  whenever  results  can  be  accomplished  by  other  means, 
(c)  When  punishment  is  necessary,  it  should  be  administered  with 
vigor,  (d)  Artificial  punishment  should  strive  to  combine  in  itself 
all  of  the  advantages  of  natural  punishment,  at  the  same  time 
avoiding  its  obvious  defects,  (e)  Punishment  must  impress  the 
offender  as  having  a  moral  implication,  (f)  The  teacher  should 
administer  his  own  discipline  as  far  as  possible,  (g)  The  teacher 
should  frankly  discuss  his  disciplinary  problems  with  his  superiors 
and  colleagues,  and  ask  for  their  advice,  (h)  The  most  effective 
form  of  punishment  is  social  in  its  character,  (i)  In  dealing  with 
cases  of  discipline  the  teacher  must  act  with  decision  and  prompt- 
ness, but  must  make  sure  that  he  has  isolated  the  individual  of- 
fenders and  that  he  knows  exactly  the  nature  of  the  offence,    (j)  As 


CONTENTS  Xlll 

PAGE 

a  rule  it  is  not  wise  to  punish  the  group  for  the  misconduct  of  in- 
dividuals. 

CHAPTER  VH 

Eliminating  Waste  in  the  Classroom 128 

The  maximally  efficient  class  should  be  the  ideal  of  the 
teacher. — The  causes  of  waste  in  the  classroom  are  varied. — In  the 
classroom  the  physical  conditions  must  be  such  that  the  work  may 
be  done  under  the  best  possible  circumstances.  These  physical 
conditions  are  concerned  with  the  following  details  of  equipment 
and  arrangement  of  the  school  building:  (a)  The  characteristics  of 
the  classroom,  (b)  The  position  and  arrangement  of  cabinets, 
supply  closets,  demonstration  apparatus  and  other  illustrative 
materials,  (c)  The  use  of  the  blackboard  as  a  means  of  in- 
struction.— In  the  conduct  of  the  class  all  unnecessary  work  on  the 
part  of  the  pupils  should  be  eliminated,  such  as:  (a)  Fruitless  dicta- 
tion exercises,  (b)  Unnecessary  copying  of  questions,  (c)  Profit- 
less requirements  in  written  work,  (d)  Useless  assignments. — The 
physical  condition  of  the  pupil  is  an  important  consideration  from 
the  standpoint  of  economy  in  teaching.  It  involves:  (a)  The  prob- 
lem of  mental  fatigue  in  relation  to  school  work,  (b)  The  question 
of  the  alternation  of  periods  of  work  and  rest. — The  mental  at- 
titude of  the  worker  has  much  to  do  with  his  efficiency:  (a)  The 
problem  of  the  child's  attitude  toward  his  work  is  not  merely  a 
question  of  efficiency;  it  is  likewise  a  matter  that  concerns  mental 
hygiene,  (b)  Dissatisfaction  in  the  task  is  a  serious  menace  to  all 
efficient  workmanship,  (c)  There  are  various  motives  that  may 
vitalize  school  work. — Methods  of  instruction  and  of  learning  may 
be  classified  as  economical  or  wasteful. 


CHAPTER  Vin 

The  Methods  of  the  Class  Period. — Testing  the  Knowledge  of 

the  Pupil 151 

There  are  three  fundamental  methods  of  class  instruction, 
namely, — testing  the  knowledge  of  the  pupil,  drill,  and  adding  to 
the  knowledge  and  technical  ability  already  possessed. — Reasons 
for  testing  the  knowledge  of  the  pupil  are:  (a)  The  testing  for 
knowledge  holds  the  pupil  down  to  his  tasks,  (b)  The  test  for 
knowledge  enables  the  teacher  to  determine  the  progress  of  the 


XIV  CONTENTS 

PAGE 
pupil,  (c)  The  test  for  knowledge  serves  as  a  means  for  review, 
(d)  The  test  for  knowledge  serves  as  a  basis  for  marking  the 
pupil. — There  is  necessity  of  a  properly  devised  and  administered 
marking  system.  There  are  certain  reforms  to  be  made  in  the 
marking  system:  (a)  In  the  first  place  we  must  find,  if  possible,  for 
most  school  subjects  an  objective  scale  by  which  the  attainment  of 
the  pupil  can  be  measured  both  absolutely  and  relatively,  (b)  It  is 
not  only  important  to  devise  carefully  determined  objective  scales 
for  marking  pupils;  it  is  likewise  necessary  that  the  teacher  use 
such  scales  as  conscientiously  as  possible,  (c)  Every  teacher  in 
the  high  school  should  familiarize  himself  with  such  scales  as  exist 
for  measuring  achievement  in  the  subject  which  he  teaches  and 
should  use  these  scales;  when  no  such  scales  have  been  devised,  the 
teacher  should  attempt  to  set  up  measures  of  his  own  that  are  as 
objective  as  possible. — The  outcomes  of  standardized  marking 
have  great  educational  value. — Standards  of  marking  cannot  all  be 
framed  with  equal  exactness  and  objectivity. — Important  con- 
siderations in  regard  to  the  test  for  knowledge  are:  (a)  The  test 
for  knowledge  as  a  rule  should  be  given  as  a  class  exercise,  (b)  The 
written  test  is  generally  more  economical  than  the  oral  test,  (c) 
Tests  should  be  made  as  brief  as  possible  in  order  that  the  major 
part  of  the  recitation  period  may  be  given  over  to  the  more  impor- 
tant work  of  drill  and  instruction,  (d)  Tests  should  not  all  be  of 
one  type. — Summary  of  the  preceding  discussion  emphaszies  the 
economy  in  proper  tests  for  knowledge. 

CHAPTER  IX 

The  Methods  of  the  Class  Period. — The  Nature  and  Function 

of  Drill 177 

There  are  conflicting  opinions  in  regard  to  the  value  of  drill. — 
Causes  for  a  reaction  in  favor  of  drill  are:  (a)  A  better  under- 
standing of  the  doctrine  of  interest,  (b)  The  failure  of  instruction 
without  drill,  (c)  The  results  of  experimental  education. — The 
laws  of  habit-formation  are :  (a)  Repetition  of  the  desired  function, 
(b)  Pleasurable  consequences  in  the  learning,  (c)  Attention 
during  the  process  of  learning,  (d)  Consistency  and  invariability 
of  response. — The  principle  of  excess  activity  in  drill  is  to  be  con- 
sidered.— Methods  of  restricting  the  field  of  trial  and  error  in 
learning  are:  (a)  The  teacher  must  present  to  the  pupil  an  effective 


CONTENTS  XV 

PAGE 

copy.  It  must  be  correct;  it  must  be  clearly  and  definitely  pre- 
sented; it  must  not  be  excessively  difficult  to  imitate;  it  must 
arouse  the  desire  to  imitate,  (b)  The  teacher  must  condition  the 
environment  of  the  pupil  in  such  a  manner  that  it  will  not  be  pos- 
sible for  him  to  go  widely  astray  in  his  learning,  (c)  The  teacher 
must  encourage  the  pupil  to  think  about  what  he  is  doing  and  how 
he  is  doing  it. 

CHAPTER  X 

The  Methods  of  the  Class  Period. — Economical  Methods  of 

Drill 199 

Aspects  of  drill  that  further  or  hinder  learning  are  concerned 
with  the  following  principles:  (a)  The  elements  that  are  empha- 
sized in  drill  must  be  associated  in  their  proper  order.  Habits  must 
be  formed  in  the  way  in  which  they  are  to  be  used.  The  most  in- 
teresting aspects  of  a  subject  should  be  taken  up  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. The  less  difficult  elements  should  be  learned  before  the  more 
difficult.  Difficulties  should  not  be  introduced  until  fundamentals 
have  been  mastered.  Fundamental  habits  must  be  acquired  in 
the  initial  stages  of  learning,  (b)  Unnecessary  elements  should  not 
be  introduced  into  a  habit,  (c)  Habits  must  be  formed  in  specific 
situations;  they  cannot  be  acquired  in  general,  (d)  There  are 
definite  limits  to  possible  and  desirable  proficiency  in  any  given 
habit  or  set  of  habits,  (e)  Drill  to  be  economical  must  be  individ- 
ual in  its  character.  It  should  be  in  terms  of  individual  needs. 
There  should  be  drill  groups  distinct  from  the  ordinary  recitation 
groups.  Drill  of  the  individual  pupil  should  not  be  at  the  expense 
of  the  class.  Written  drill  is  more  economical  than  oral  drill. — 
Maxims  of  economical  drill  emphasize  the  foregoing  discussion* 

CHAPTER  XI 

The  Methods  of  the  Class  Period. — Adding  New  Knowledge 

Through  Oral  and  Book  Instruction  .        .         .224 

The  telling  method  ranges  from  the  formal  lecture  on  the  one 
hand  to  fragmentary  comments  on  the  other. — Faults  of  the 
telling  method  are :  (a)  It  is  time-consuming,  (b)  It  often  gives  the 
teacher  a  false  idea  of  his  skill  in  class  instruction,  (c)  It  lacks  a 
permanent  record. — The  technique  of  note-taking  involves  the 
following  principles:  (a)  Notes  should  not  be  taken  in  the  form  of 


XVI  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

dictation,  (b)  The  pupil  should  not  be  required  to  take  volu- 
minous notes,  (c)  The  pupil  should  be  required  to  jot  down  the 
main  facts  of  the  lecture  or  oral  discussion,  and  as  soon  as  possible 
after  the  recitation  write  out  in  proper  order  these  facts. — Advan- 
tages of  the  telling  method  are:  (a)  It  tends  to  secure  and  hold  the 
attention,  (b)  It  is  adapted  to  the  immediate  needs  of  the  class, 
(c)  It  supplies  the  class  with  information  that  is  more  special  and 
recent  than  that  offered  in  the  book. — The  capable  high  school 
teacher  must  be  superior  to  any  single  book  or  any  collection  of 
books.  The  reasons  for  the  dependence  of  the  teacher  on  the  book 
arise  chiefly  from  the  following  causes:  (a)  American  teachers  lack 
somewhat  in  initiative,  (b)  They  have  not  been  adequately 
trained  in  methods  of  presentation,  (c)  They  are  not  sufficiently 
familiar  with  subject-matter. — Text-book  instruction  is  a  nec- 
essary aspect  of  teaching. — Text-books  should  be  considered 
merely  as  aids  in  teaching;  not  as  substitutes  for  teaching. — The 
essentials  of  a  proper  assignment  are:  (a)  The  teacher  should  know 
the  book  thoroughly,  and  evaluate  it  in  terms  of  the  needs  of  the 
class,  (b)  He  should  decide  on  the  proper  emphasis  to  be  given  to 
the  various  topics  in  the  text,  (c)  He  should  give  adequate  time  to 
the  assignment,  (d)  He  should  make  his  instruction  definite, 
(e)  He  should  attempt  to  clear  up  those  points  concerning  which 
there  is  likely  to  be  difficulty,  (f)  The  chief  function  of  the  assign- 
ment is  to  teach  the  pupil  how  to  study. 

CHAPTER  XH 

The  Methods  of  the  Class  Period. — Adding  New  Knowledge 

%  Through  Illustration  and  Demonstration  .  .  .  244 
The  teacher  should  give  great  attention  to  the  problem  of  illus- 
tration: (a)  To  illustrate  is  to  make  clear,  (b)  The  forms  of  illus- 
tration are  varied,  (c)  Illustration  involves  reaction  on  the  part 
of  the  pupil. — The  teacher  must  clearly  understand  the  nature  and 
scope  of  object  teaching. — Important  considerations  that  are  to  be 
kept  in  mind  in  teaching  by  means  of  objects  are:  (a)  The  object 
may  be  brought  to  the  pupil,  or  the  pupil  to  the  object,  (b)  The 
mind  of  the  learner  must  be  prepared  to  understand  the  object, 
(c)  The  pupil  must  be  required  to  give  back  to  the  teacher  in  some 
form  that  which  he  has  observed,  (d)  Care  must  be  taken  to  pre- 
vent the  object  from  confusing  the  idea  which  it  is  intended  to 


CONTENTS  XV11 

PAGE 

clarify. — Demonstrations  are  a  form  of  illustration. — Cautions  to 
be  observed  in  class  demonstration  are:  (a)  The  essential  parts  of 
the  demonstration  must  be  seen  by  all  of  the  class,  (b)  The  demon- 
stration must  be  a  success. — Examples  of  illustration  in  high  school 
subjects  are  to  be  found  in:  (a)  Dramatization  as  a  means  of 
teaching  literature,  (b)  Object-teaching  in  the  practical  arts, 
(c)  Illustration  through  demonstration  apparatus,  (d)  Illustra- 
tion by  means  of  pictures,  (e)  Illustration  through  models,  charts, 
maps,  and  diagrams,  (f)  Illustration  through  example,  (g)  Illus- 
tration through  oral  suggestion. 

CHAPTER  XIII 

The  Methods  of  the  Class  Period. — Adding  New  Knowledge 

Through  Stimulation  of  Thought  .  .  .  .274 
Reasons  for  stimulating  the  pupil  to  think  are :  (a)  Thought  is  an 
aid  to  memory,  (b)  Thought  gives  meaning  to  the  mere  fact,  (c) 
Thought  furnishes  methods  of  procedure,  (d)  Thought  developed 
in  one  field  of  learning  tends  to  give  the  learner  ability  to  think  in 
other  fields. — Essential  principles  relating  to  the  thought  process 
are:  (a)  Thought  is  stimulated  only  when  a  genuine  difficulty  con- 
fronts the  learner,    (b)  This  difficulty  must  be  real  for  the  learner. 

(c)  Correct   thinking  must   be   based  on   definite   knowledge. 

(d)  Correct  thinking  requires  that  the  problem  be  clearly  en- 
visaged, (e)  Correct  thinking  requires  selection  and  analysis. — 
Induction  and  deduction  are  the  two  fundamental  forms  of  reason- 
ing. These  two  processes  are  different  aspects  of  the  same  funda- 
mental tendency  of  the  human  mind,  namely, — to  treat  particular 
instances  in  terms  of  general  principles  and  to  envisage  general 
principles  in  terms  of  concrete  examples. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Methods  of  the  Class  Period. — Adding  New  Knowledge 
Through  the  Inductive  and  Deductive  Development 

Lesson 295 

The  inductive  development  lesson  is  exemplified  in  the  five 
formal  steps  of  instruction. — The  principles  of  these  five  formal 
steps  applied  in  a  modified  form  to  high  school  instruction  are: 
(a)  The  mind  of  the  learner  should  be  prepared  in  advance  to  re- 


XV111  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

ceive  new  materials,  (b)  Pupils  of  all  grades  should  know  the  main 
aims  of  the  recitation,  (c)  Facts  should  be  considered  in  their  re- 
lations, (d)  Generalizations  should  follow  from  comparisons, 
(e)  Generalizations  are  valuable  in  proportion  as  they  are  ap- 
plied.— In  the  high  school  it  is  seldom  possible  to  employ  the  in- 
ductive lesson  in  detail,  and  with  strict  formality. — The  deductive 
development  lesson  is  the  final  step. — The  deductive  lesson  pos- 
esses  certain  advantages  over  the  inductive  lesson:  (a)  The  in- 
ductive process  is  often  time-consuming,  (b)  The  learner  has 
slight  opportunity  to  arrive  at  any  scientifically  valid  induction, 
(c)  Many  of  the  inductions  that  pupils  make  are  fragmentary  and 
inconsequential. — There  are  several  phases  of  the  deductive 
development  lesson. — The  two  functions  of  the  deductive  develop- 
ment lesson  are  to  anticipate  and  to  explain. — Inductive  and 
deductive  processes  of  thought  are  not  always  possible  or  de- 
sirable. 

CHAPTER  XV 

The  Question  as  a  Method  of  Instruction  .  .  .  .310 
The  question  is  a  vital  part  of  the  recitation. — The  question  has 
a  three-fold  function:  (a)  It  serves  the  important  purpose  of  test- 
ing the  knowledge  of  the  pupil,  (b)  It  serves  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing emphatic  facts  already  known  to  the  learner,  (c)  It  serves  the 
purpose  of  stimulating  thought. — Common  faults  in  the  question- 
ing of  high  school  teachers  are:  (a)  The  questions  are  not  well 
phrased,  (b)  The  questions  are  repeated  or  re-phrased,  (c)  The 
questions  are  asked  in  a  hurried  manner,  (d)  They  are  indefinite 
or  obscure,  (e)  They  are  leading  and  suggestive,  (f)  They  re- 
quire no  other  answer  than  assent  or  denial,  (g)  They  stimulate 
only  superficial  and  pseudo-judgments,  (h)  They  insist  on  an- 
swers that  cannot  be  readily  given. — The  essentials  of  a  good 
question  are  brought  out  from  the  preceding  discussion. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

The  Lesson  Plan 334 

A  carefully  prepared  plan  is  a  necessary  part  of  the  lesson. — 
The  aim  is  the  pivotal  point  of  every  lesson  plan.  In  considering 
the  aim  the  following  topics  are  important:  (a)  The  ultimate  aims 


CONTENTS  XIX 

PAGE 

of  instruction  should  serve  to  give  the  teacher  a  broad  and  generous 
view  of  his  calling,  and  inspire  him  to  practical  achievement. 

(b)  There  is  a  relative  justification  of  practical,  disciplinary,  and 
cultural  aims,  (c)  The  nature  of  immediate  aims  must  be  kept 
constantly  in  mind,  (d)  Some  common  faults  found  in  the  state- 
ment of  immediate  aims  are, — i.  The  teacher  states  his  aims  in  too 
general  and  indefinite  terms.  2.  The  teacher  formulates  aims  that 
are  beyond  the  understanding  of  the  pupils.  3.  The  teacher  sets 
up  aims  that  are  largely  formal  and  obvious.  4.  The  teacher  some- 
times sets  up  the  same  aim  day  after  day.  5.  The  teacher  at- 
tempts to  realize  too  many  aims  in  the  course  of  a  single  lesson. 

6.  The  teacher  fails  at  times  to  unify  the  various  aims  of  the  lesson. 

7.  The  teacher  does  not  distinguish  between  an  aim  and  a 
method. — The  methods  by  which  the  aims  of  the  lesson  are  to  be 
realized  is  the  second  essential  of  a  well-constructed  plan.  There 
are  several  important  principles  to  be  considered  here:  (a)  Like  the 
aim,  the  method  is  often  poorly  thought  out,  and  inadequately 
formulated,  (b)  On  the  whole,  the  most  important  characteristic 
of  a  good  method  is  that  it  shall  carry  out  in  sufficient  detail  the 
aims  of  the  recitation,  (c)  The  method  should  give  a  statement 
of  the  most  important  questions  to  be  asked. — The  statement  of 
the  result  is  the  third  essential  of  a  good  lesson  plan. — The  pre- 
requisites of  a  good  lesson  plan  are:  (a)  It  is  based  on  a  compre- 
hensive and  scholarly  view  of  the  subject  taught,  (b)  It  is  based  * 
on  a  knowledge  of  the  interests,  needs,  and  capacities  of  the  pupil. 

(c)  It  is  based  on  a  knowledge  of  method. 

CHAPTER  XVn 

Supervised  Study 360 

The  teacher's  function  is  broader  than  that  of  a  hearer  of  les- 
sons.— Reasons  for  supervised  study  are:  (a)  The  physical  condi- 
tions of  the  home  often  make  concentration  on  the  assigned  lessons 
extremely  difficult,  and  at  times  practically  impossible,  (b)  Home 
study  tends  toward  irregular  habits  of  work,  (c)  When  the  pupil 
is  not  directed  in  his  work  he  often  acquires  blundering  and  waste- 
ful methods  of  study,  (d)  The  learner  is  often  given  unwise  aid  by 
parents  or  friends,  (e)  Individual  differences  in  capacity  demand 
individual  methods  of  help,  (f)  Recent  investigations  have  clearly 
shown  the  value  of  supervised  study. — Objections  to  supervised 


XX  CONTENTS 

PAG1 

study  are:  (a)  Supervised  study  does  not  promote  self-reliance  on 
the  part  of  the  learner,  (b)  It  consumes  too  much  of  the  teacher's 
time,  (c)  It  imposes  an  additional  expense  on  the  school,  since  it 
requires  a  larger  force  of  teachers,  (d)  It  increases  the  length  of  the 
school  day.  (e)  It  necessitates  additional  school  rooms. — Forms  of 
supervised  study  are:  (a)  The  unprepared  lesson,  (b)  The  general 
study  period,  (c)  The  divided  period,  (d)  The  double  period. — 
Purposes  for  which  the  period  for  supervised  study  may  be  used 
are:  (a)  The  period  may  be  devoted  in  part  or  as  a  whole  to  a  gen- 
eral assignment,  (b)  It  may  be  used  as  a  means  of  summarizing 
and  fixing  the  lesson  that  has  just  been  taken  up  in  the  class,  (c)  It 
may  be  used  to  habituate  the  learner  in  the  technique  of  study, 
(d)  It  may  be  used  in  discovering  individual  needs  and  in  giving 
individual  aid. — Fundamental  principles  to  be  emphasized  in  the 
technique  of  learning  are:  (a)  The  teacher  should  first  of  all  make 
sure  that  the  physical  conditions  of  the  study  room  are  such  that 
the  pupil  can  do  his  best  work,  (b)  The  teacher  should  furnish  the 
pupil  with  an  incentive  for  doing  his  work  rapidly  and  accurately, 
(c)  The  teacher  should  insist  that  the  learner  begin  his  work 
promptly,  (d)  The  teacher  should  require  the  pupil  to  maintain 
sustained  effort  until  the  close  of  the  study  period,  (e)  The  teacher 
should  demand  that  the  pupil  concentrate  on  his  work  under  all 
circumstances,  (f)  The  teacher  should  make  sure  that  the  pupil, 
before  he  begins  the  detailed  study  of  a  lesson,  knows  in  general 
what  the  lesson  is  about,  (g)  The  teacher  should  accustom  the 
pupil  to  read  a  lesson  over  as  a  whole,  before  he  concentrates  atten- 
tion on  various  elements  and  details,  (h)  The  teacher  should  afford 
the  pupil  an  opportunity  at  the  close  of  the  study  period  to  review 
the  most  essential  details,  and  fit  them  together  in  a  significant 
scheme,  (i)  During  the  study  period,  the  teacher  should  emphasize 
the  practice  of  recall  by  the  learner,  (j)  The  teacher  should  assist 
the  pupils  in  making  out  an  outline  of  those  topics  of  study  that 
contain  important  facts  and  principles  with  subordinate  details, 
(k)  The  teacher  should  accustom  the  pupil  to  memorize  ideas 
rather  than  mere  facts;  however,  when  verbatim  memory  is  nec- 
essary, he  should  insist  that  it  be  exact  and  complete.  (1)  The 
teacher  should  impress  upon  the  learner  the  necessity  of  looking 
for  concrete  examples  and  applications  of  general  principles,  and 
of  interpreting  isolated  facts  in  terms  of  broader  meanings,  (m) 
The  teacher  should  show  the  pupil  how  to  use  in  the  most  econom- 


CONTENTS  XXI 

PAGE 

ical  way  books  for  reference  and  collateral  reading. — The  indirect 
results  of  supervised  study  constitute  one  of  its  chief  values. 

Selected  Bibliography 383 

Appendix  A 395 

Appendix  B •  405 

Appendix  C •        •        •  414 


AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL 
TEACHING 


INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL 
TEACHING 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  NATURE  AND  SCOPE  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

Broad  Application  of  the  Term  Secondary  Education.— 

Each  year  our  American  colleges  and  universities  are  graduating 
numbers  of  young  men  and  women  who  intend  to  make  teaching 
either  a  temporary  or  a  permanent  career.  For  the  most  part 
these  graduates  plan  to  secure  positions  in  schools  of  secondary 
grade.  Of  these  schools  they  often  have  vague,  inadequate,  and 
erroneous  notions.  To  an  extent  the  significance  of  secondary 
education  is  to  them  a  closed  book.  Few  could  give  an  accurate 
statement  of  the  nature  of  secondary  education,  describe  its 
aims,  or  outline  its  methods.  Although  this  ignorance  is  most 
unfortunate,  for  it  they  are  not  altogether  to  blame.  The  term 
"secondary  education"  has  such  a  broad  application,  and  is 
roughly  used  to  characterize  schools  of  such  differing  types 
that  it  is  difficult  in  a  brief  statement  to  furnish  any  accurate 
notion  of  what  secondary  education  implies.  It  is  the  aim  of 
this  chapter  and  of  succeeding  chapters  to  discuss  its  most  essen- 
tial aspects  from  the  standpoint  of  the  needs  of  the  novice  in 
secondary  teaching. 

Secondary  Schools  of  Europe  and  of  America  Compared. — 
(a)  The  secondary  school  of  Europe  differs  from  that  of  America 
in  the  fact  that  the  former  is  not  a  continuation  of  the  elementary 
school. — In  America  we  commonly  think  of  the  secondary  school 
as  directly  following  the  "Grades,"  or  the  elementary  school, 


2  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

in  which  the  rudiments  of  an  education  are  acquired.  This  is 
true  for  America,  but  not  for  Europe.  There  the  secondary 
school  is  not  a  continuation  and  extension  of  the  common  school. 
It  is  a  school  by  itself.  The  secondary  school  in  France  receives 
a  boy  at  the  age  of  six  and  offers  him  a  course  covering  twelve 
years,  the  first  five  of  which  are  devoted  to  learning  the  elements 
and  in  preparing  for  his  secondary  education  proper,  which 
generally  begins  in  his  eleventh  year.  In  his  earlier  years  he 
gains  the  rudiments  of  knowledge  in  the  same  school  in  which 
later  he  does  his  more  advanced  work,  and  this  school  is  entirely 
distinct  from  the  common  school,  which  furnishes  education  to 
the  great  majority  of  the  children  of  France. 

To  the  German  secondary  school  the  boy  is  admitted  at  nine, 
after  three  years  of  preparation  either  in  the  common  school,  or 
in  the  Vorschule,  a  school  definitely  preparatory  to  the  secondary 
school.  Thus,  except  at  the  very  beginning,  there  is  no  connec- 
tion between  the  German  elementary  school  (the  common 
school)  and  the  secondary  school. 

In  England  conditions  are  more  in  a  state  of  change;  but  the 
oldest  type  of  secondary  schools,  the  so-called  "public  schools," 
by  no  means  public  in  the  American  sense  of  the  word,  are  far 
removed  from  the  elementary  schools  of  the  people.  Schools  like 
Rugby,  Harrow,  and  Winchester,  centuries  old  and  established 
in  ancient  traditions,  are  even  more  remote  from  the  masses 
than  are  the  secondary  schools  of  Germany  and  France.1 

(b)  The  secondary  schools  of  America  are  democratic;  those 
of  Europe  are  aristocratic. — The  Public  Schools  of  England, 
the  Gymnasia,  and  other  secondary  schools  of  Germany,  the 
Lysee,  and  the  Communal  Colleges  of  France  furnish  education 
not  for  the  masses,  but  for  the  classes.  They  are  primarily 
designed  to  train  the  leaders  of  the  nation.  In  America  on  the 
other  hand  the  vast  majority  of  secondary  schools  throw  their 

1  In  America  the  older  endowed  academies,  of  which  Exeter  and  Andover 
are  types,  have  some  resemblance  to  the  English  public  schools. 


NATURE  AND  SCOPE   OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION  3 

doors  open  wide  to  all  the  children  of  all  the  people  and  urge  them 
to  enter.  There  is  no  thought  of  educating  the  chosen  few,  but 
the  ambition  of  these  schools  is  to  enroll  all  the  children  of 
secondary  age.  They  aim  to  become  higher  common  schools,  to 
be  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name  "people's  colleges."  Each  year 
more  and  more  boys  and  girls  of  secondary  school  age  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  study  in  these  schools. 

(c)  The  secondary  schools  of  America  offer  a  more  varied  program 
of  studies  than  do  the  secondary  schools  of  Europe. — We  often 
think  of  secondary  education  as  dealing  with  a  particular  and 
somewhat  restricted  type  of  studies.  If  we  form  our  ideas  of 
the  secondary  school  program  from  the  school  at  which  we 
prepared  for  college,  we  are  likely  to  assume  that  the  curriculum 
of  the  secondary  school  is  definite  and  relatively  restricted  in 
content.  We  think  of  the  foreign  languages,  both  ancient  and 
modern,  of  English,  of  mathematics,  of  science,  and  of  history. 
We  may  know  that  in  many  schools  some  manual  training  is 
offered  to  the  boys,  and  cooking  and  sewing  to  the  girls.  Few  of 
us,  however,  have  any  idea  of  the  varied  and  extensive  curricula 
offered  by  many  secondary  schools  in  America.  In  this  respect 
these  secondary  schools  differ  from  those  of  Europe,  which  offer 
courses  of  study  less  diversified  than  those  found  in  a  large 
number  of  our  best  American  schools.  This  difference  in  the 
breadth  of  the  curriculum  arises  largely  from  the  fact  that  the 
secondary  schools  of  Europe  are  aiming  to  do  a  few  definite 
things  in  a  few  definite  ways,  while  the  secondary  schools  of 
America  are  striving  to  do  many  different  things,  often  in  ways 
that  are  not  standardized  or  clearly  formulated.1  Not  only  are 
the  aims  of  secondary  education  more  general  and  less  definite  in 
America  than  in  Europe,  but  also  educational  control  is  less 

1  The  vocational  courses  that  are  being  introduced  in  ever  increasing  num- 
bers in  our  American  high  schools  are  cared  for  in  Europe  by  special  trade 
schools  quite  distinct  from  secondary  schools,  and  enrolling  a  distinct  class  of 
pupils. 


4  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

centralized  here  than  in  Germany  and  France,  and  is  determined 
to  a  large  extent  by  local  interests  and  needs.  Of  this  diversified 
curriculum  of  the  American  secondary  school  we  shall  have  more 
to  say  in  the  next  few  pages. 

(d)  The  secondary  school  of  Europe  is  a  fee  school,  while  the 
secondary  school  of  America  is  generally  a  free  school. — In  Europe 
secondary  education  is  not  entirely  at  public  expense  as.  is  gen- 
erally the  case  in  America.  Tuition  charges  for  the  most  part 
are  not  excessive,  but  they  are  sufficient  to  make  it  impossible 
for  many  parents  to  send  their  children  to  these  schools.  In 
America  not  only  is  tuition  free  in  the  great  majority  of  our 
secondary  schools,  but  also  in  many  towns  and  cities  free  text- 
books and  supplies  are  furnished  to  the  pupils.  The  poorest 
families  can  therefore  avail  themselves  of  the  privileges  of  these 
schools  for  their  children. 

The  High  School  is  the  Typical  Secondary  School  in 
America. — The  free  public  high  school  is  by  far  the  most  com- 
mon secondary  school  in  America.  There  are  numbers  of  private 
secondary  schools,  parochial  schools,  and  academies.  However, 
these  latter  furnish  but  a  small  percentage  of  the  secondary 
schools  of  this  country.1  The  great  mass  of  children  in  America 
receive  their  secondary  education  in  the  high  school,  supported 
by  public  taxation,  and  directly  accountable  to  the  community 
in  which  it  exists.  These  schools  are  rapidly  multiplying,  and 
the  attendance  is  showing  a  remarkable  ratio  of  increase.  Most 
of  them  have  sprung  up  since  the  Civil  War,  and  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century  has  witnessed  an  unprecedented  development  of 
these  institutions  of  learning.  Today  there  are  approximately  a 
million  and  a  quarter  pupils  in  our  public  high  schools,  about  one 
to  eighty-three  persons  in  our  total  population.     This  ratio, 

1  In  the  report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  the 
year  1916  there  were  listed  13,922  schools  of  secondary  grade,  and  of  this 
number  11,674  were  public  high  schools  enrolling  nearly  ninety  per  cent,  of 
all  pupils  attending  secondary  schools. 


NATURE  AND   SCOPE   OF   SECONDARY  EDUCATION 


which  at  present  is  greater  than  that  of  any  country  in  the 
world,  is  sure  to  increase  decidedly  in  the  next  decade.1 

The  private  secondary  schools  copy  in  many  ways  the  aims, 
methods,  and  programs  of  study  of  the  public  high  schools. 
They  differ  principally  from  the  high  schools  in  the  fact  that  they 
are  fee  schools,  and  appeal  to  a  more  narrowly  selected  class  of 
pupils.  They  are  more  aristocratic  on  the  whole,  and  in  this 
respect  resemble  more  closely  the  secondary  schools  of  Europe 
than  do  our  free  high  schools.  Further  they  are  generally  not 
co-educational,  and  in  this  respect  also  resemble  more  closely 
the  European  secondary  schools  than  the  American  high  school, 
which  is  predominatingly  but  not  exclusively  co-educational. 

The  Aims  of  the  American  Secondary  School. — The  most 
generally  recognized  aim  of  the  American  secondary  school  is  to 
train  boys  and  girls  to  become  useful  members  of  the  communi- 
ties in  which  they  are  to  live,  in  other  words  to  promote  good 
citizenship  in  the  broadest  sense  of  the  term.  This  aim  is  so 
comprehensive  that  it  includes  all  other  aims  that  are  ordinarily 
advanced  as  reasons  why  a  boy  or  a  girl  should  take  a  high  school 
course,  with  the  exception  of  the  narrow  and  unjustifiable  aims 
of  mere  self-advancement,  and  personal,  pleasure. 

There  are  many  ways  in  which  young  people  may  be  educated 
to  become  good  citizens.  The  parochial  and  church  schools 
emphasize  religious  and  moral  training;  many  of  the  academies 
and  private  schools  stress  a  cultural  and  disciplinary  education, 
aiming  to  furnish  their  pupils  with  the  graces  of  life,  to  give  them 
an  appreciation  of  the  finer  things  in  the  civilization  of  the  past 
and  the  present,  to  afford  them  a  comprehension  of  some  of  life's 

1  The  percentage  of  the  boys  and  girls  in  our  high  schools  compared  with 
the  total  population  varies  greatly  in  different  communities  and  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.  In  the  state  of  New  Hampshire,  according  to  H.  A. 
Brown,  87.4  per  cent,  of  the  children  who  graduate  from  the  elementary 
schools  enter  the  secondary  schools  and  of  these  55  per  cent,  complete  the 
course  (See  The  School  Review,  Vol.  XXII.,  p.  145  [1914]).  This  percentage 
is  much  greater  than  that  in  many  states,  cities,  and  towns. 


0  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

fundamental  problems,  and  to  equip  their  minds  to  do  effective 
work.  Many  of  these  private  schools  consider  it  their  chief 
function  to  serve  as  preparatory  schools  for  colleges,  technical 
schools  and  professional  schools.  They  measure  their  service 
to  the  community  largely  in  terms  of  the  number  of  boys  or 
girls  that  they  have  sent  to  some  higher  institution  of  learning. 
There  are  other  schools  of  secondary  grade,  some  private  and 
some  public,  that  emphasize  particularly  the  training  of  young 
people  for  some  definite  occupation.  These  schools  are  voca- 
tional schools,  and  their  purpose  is  to  give  rather  specific  training 
for  life's  work.  The  so-called  "commercial  colleges"  are  exam- 
ples of  private  schools  of  this  type. 

The  Trend  Toward  Vocational  Education  in  our  High 
Schools. — (a)  While  the  American  high  school  strives  to  accomplish 
many  things,  it  is  today  turning  its  attention  more  and  more  to  some 
form  of  vocational  education.— The  public  high  school  sets  before 
itself  all  aims  that  lead  to  the  making  of  good  citizenship,  with 
the  exception  of  those  that  involve  dogmatic  religious  instruc- 
tion; but  it  emphasizes  to  a  greater  extent  than  do  the  leading 
private  secondary  schools  preparation  for  a  specific  calling  in 
life.  The  public  high  schools  are  much  nearer  the  great  mass  of 
people  than  are  the  private  secondary  schools,  and  the  people  are 
more  and  more  demanding  that  when  their  sons  and  daughters 
graduate  from  the  high  school  they  shall  be  equipped  with  an 
education  that  can  apply  immediately  to  the  earning  of  a  living. 

There  is  today  considerable  uncertainty  in  American  education  as 
to  the  way  in  which  the  vocational  training  of  young  people  is  to 
develop.  Is  it  to  be  an  important  function  of  the  high  school,  or  is 
it  to  be  given  over  largely  to  so-called  "  trade  schools?  "  These  admit 
boys  and  girls  to  their  courses  as  soon  as  they  have  completed  the 
period  of  compulsory  education  (generally  at  the  age  of  fourteen) 
and  often  before  they  have  finished  the  work  of  the  grades,  and  they 
aim  at  little  more  than  to  teach  these  young  people  the  essentials  of 
the  trade  that  they  have  selected  to  follow.  If  the  trade  schools  suc- 
ceed in  becoming  the  typical  and  usual  means  of  training  boys  and 


NATURE  AND   SCOPE   OF   SECONDARY  EDUCATION  7 

girls  for  definite  work  in  life,  the  vocational  phase  of  secondary  educa- 
tion will  become  less  and  less  important,  and  the  high  school  will 
ultimately  more  closely  resemble  the  secondary  schools  of  Europe, 
setting  before  itself  as  its  chief  function  the  preparation  of  a  relatively 
selected  class  for  the  "higher  callings"  in  life.  If  the  trade  school  7 
finally  establishes  itself  as  the  chief  means  for  vocational  preparation,  I 
the  high  school  as  the  people's  college,  as  a  higher  common  school  to 
which  all  children  of  secondary  school  age  go,  will  not  be  a  possibility. 
The  development  of  the  trade  school  as  an  institution  apart  from  the 
secondary  school  is  in  a  way  a  menace  to  American  democracy,  which 
can  best  be  fostered  by  having  a  free  public  high  school  to  which  all 
children  of  secondary  school  age  shall  go.  Here  they  can  acquire 
common  elements  of  culture,  common  ideals,  and  perfect  themselves 
in  basal  habits  of  knowledge  and  skill,  while  they  are  learning  at  the 
same  time  those  things  which  will  be  of  direct  and  immediate  use  to 
them  on  graduating. 

(b)  This  vocational  trend  is  toward  an  education  that  is  prac- 
tical, but  at  the  same  time  cultural  and  disciplinary. — While  our 
high  schools  are  more  and  more  introducing  vocational  courses 
they  are  not  developing  into  mere  trade  schools.  The  courses 
offered  are  generally  to  be  classed  as  pre-vocational  or  semi- 
vocational,  rather  than  strictly  vocational.  In  some  instances, 
however,  we  find  courses  that  aim  to  accomplish  little  more  than 
to  prepare  the  pupil  for  some  definite  and  specific  occupation  on 
graduation. 

A  careful  distinction  should  be  made  between  the  terms  vdca- 
tional,  semi-vocational,  and  pre-vocational.  A  vocational  course  of 
study  aims  to  prepare  a  pupil  immediately  to  take  up  some  occupation 
in  the  community  at  graduation,  and  strives  so  to  train  him  that  he 
will  have  sufficient  knowledge  and  skill  to  enter  upon  this  occupation 
not  as  a  novice  but  as  a  competent  and  qualified  workman.  This 
course  aims  to  do  little  else.  A  semi-vocational  course  aims  to  turn 
out  the  capable  workman,  and  at  the  same  time  to  provide  him  with 
a  more  general  equipment.  The  pre-vocational  course  of  study  does 
not  aim  to  furnish  skilled  individuals  for  any  calling;  what  it  strives 
to  do  is  to  discover  tastes  and  abilities  in  high  school  pupils,  and 


8  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

further  to  give  these  pupils  a  fund  of  general  knowledge  and  some 
elementary  skill  necessary  to,  or  desirable  for,  certain  life  occupa- 
tions. Expert  ability  in  these  occupations  is  secured  by  further  study 
and  practice  after  graduation  from  the  pre- vocational  course.  Manual 
training  is  work  of  a  pre-vocational  nature.  It  tries  out  aptitudes  for 
hand  work,  and  where  these  exist  it  gives  the  pupil  skill  in  manipula- 
tion; it  furnishes  him  with  ideas  of  procedure  in  doing  manual  work, 
and  it  may  inspire  him  with  ideals  of  the  dignity  of  such  work,  but 
it  does  not  aim  to  make  him,  nor  could  it  make  him,  a  skilled  ma- 
chinist, carpenter,  or  cabinet-maker. 

Typical  Courses  of  Study  in  the  High  School. — (a)  The  col- 
lege-preparatory and  the  general  cultural  courses. — While  there  is  a 
marked  trend  toward  vocational  and  similar  courses,  the  college 
preparatory  and  the  so-called  "general,"  "academic"  or  cul- 
tural courses  of  study  are  the  dominating  factors  in  most  of  our 
high  school  programs.1  These  courses  are  in  many  respects 
identical  because  of  the  general  supposition  that  what  most 
cultivates  and  disciplines  the  mind  is  that  type  of  study  which  is 
still  required  by  the  majority  of  our  older  colleges  for  entrance  to 
their  classes  and  lecture  halls.  In  these  courses  the  foreign 
languages,  secondary  mathematics,  with  at  least  three  years  of 
English,  some  history  and  physical  science,  are  the  important 
elements.  The  college-preparatory  course  provides  four  years 
of  Latin,  and  in  some  schools  three  years  of  Greek,  but  since 
Greek  is  no  longer  required  for  college  entrance,  and  since  it  is 
elected  by  only  a  small  number  of  pupils,  it  is  offered  less  and 
less  frequently  as  the  years  go  by.  In  some  of  our  oldest  and 
most  conservative  high  schools,  as  well  as  among  those  of  the 
more  "progressive"  type,  it  is  not  possible  to  study  this  lan- 
guage. 

1 T.  H.  Briggs  has  said  in  an  article  on  secondary  education  appearing  in 
the  report  of  the  United  States  Commission  of  Education  for  1914 — "So  far 
as  the  number  of  secondary  schools  is  concerned,  the  great  majority  are 
undoubtedly  continuing  traditional  activities  without  serious  consideration 
of  the  needs  of  the  pupil  or  of  the  results  actually  obtained." 


NATURE   AND   SCOPE   OF   SECONDARY  EDUCATION  9 

The  general  course  differs  from  the  college-preparatory  course 
chiefly  in  offering  as  a  substitute  for  the  classics  more  extensive 
options  in  modern  languages,  a  greater  opportunity  to  pursue 
the  sciences,  and  to  stress  such  subjects  as  history  and  civics. 
It  differs  from  the  college-preparatory  course  in  emphasis  and 
degree  rather  than  in  kind.  Over  three  quarters  of  all  high 
school  pupils  are  at  present  pursuing  the  academic  courses,  yet 
not  half  of  these  will  on  the  completion  of  these  courses  enter 
higher  institutions  of  learning. 

A  small  high  school  in  Rhode  Island  which  aims  solely  at  college 
preparation  and  general  culture  offers  one  course  of  study  for  all  of 
its  pupils.  This  course  includes  the  following  subjects: — English 
(four  years) ;  history  (three  years) ;  Latin  (four  years) ;  French  (three 
years);  German  (two  years);  algebra;  geometry;  physics;  chemistry; 
elementary  science;  drawing;  and  music.  Various  options  are  offered, 
particularly  for  those  not  preparing  for  college.  This  school  is  typical 
of  a  large  number  of  the  better  small  high  schools  in  New  England. 

A  large  city  high  school  of  the  strict  "classical"  type  offers  a  course 
that  has  changed  little  in  the  last  twenty  years.  It  stresses  Latin, 
Greek,  mathematics  and  English.  It  preserves  the  best  of  the  old 
traditions  as  to  what  constitutes  an  adequate  preparation  for  college 
and  for  life  as  far  as  culture  and  mental  discipline  are  concerned. 
Schools  of  this  type  are  growing  relatively  and  actually  less  frequent 
as  our  educational  ideals  and  practices  change  in  the  direction  of  a 
more  direct  and  practical  application  of  learning  to  life. 

(b)  Pre-vocational  courses. — Schools  that  attempt  to  furnish  a 
pre- vocational  education  are  growing  rapidly  in  numbers  and  in 
influence.  They  are  for  the  most  part  a  development  of  the 
"manual  training "  high  schools  of  two  decades  ago.  They 
emphasize  hand  work,  applied  science,  mathematics,  and  prac- 
tical courses  in  English;  they  offer  opportunities  to  study  modern 
language  and  history.  In  these  schools  are  generally  found  com- 
plete courses  in  the  domestic  arts  for  girls,  and  in  some  parts  of 
the  country,  particularly  in  the  North  Central  and  South  Cen- 


IO  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

tral  states,  courses  related  to  agriculture  and  the  arts  particu- 
larly connected  with  rural  life.  In  191 5  the  number  of  secondary- 
schools  offering  courses  in  agriculture  as  reported  to  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Education  were  4,918  out  of  a  total  of  13,922, 
while  3,999  offered  courses  in  domestic  arts  and  3,013  in  manual 
training.  In  many  of  the  schools  offering  agriculture  there  were 
brief  text-book  and  informational  courses  alone,  but  in  others 
there  were  thorough-going  courses  of  a  distinctly  vocational 
nature.  Though  in  some  of  these  pre-vocational  schools  the 
courses  in  the  manual  arts,  the  domestic  arts  and  in  farming  tend 
to  be  somewhat  narrowly  practical,  it  cannot  be  said  that  their 
chief  aim  is  to  graduate  skilled  mechanics,  cooks,  nurses,  or 
farmers,  but  rather  to  develop  in/the  minds  of  the  boys  and  girls 
taking  these  courses  a  taste  for  mechanical  pursuits,  home  duties, 
and  rural  occupations,  at  the  same  time  furnishing  these  pupils 
with  sufficient  knowledge  and  skill  to  serve  as  an  introduction 
to  these  pursuits. 

A  large  Eastern  high  school  of  a  thoroughly  pre-vocational  type 
offers  the  following  subjects  together  with  the  older  studies,  but  not 
including  the  classics: — Mechanical  drawing,  carpentry,  smithing, 
carving,  modeling,  turning,  pattern-making,  machine  shop,  shop 
mathematics,  business  methods,  and  applied  science.  In  addition  to 
these  courses  primarily  for  the  boys,  it  offers  to  the  girls  sewing, 
millinery,  dressmaking,  cooking,  nursing,  and  other  similar  subjects 
relating  to  the  care  and  management  of  the  home.  In  a  Western 
high  school  the  work  done  in  the  domestic  and  the  mechanic  arts 
takes  on  a  more  definitely  practical  trend,  though  it  is  hardly  to  be 
classed  as  strictly  and  purely  vocational.  Courses  are  offered  in 
joinery,  cabinet-making,  concrete  and  cement  construction,  and  the 
like.  The  boys  have  helped  to  do  much  of  the  concrete  work  around 
the  school  building,  and  have  constructed  cabinets  and  tables  for  the 
school.  The  school  has  purchased  a  forty-acre  lot,  and  the  boys  are 
improving  this  for  a  playground  and  athletic  field.  In  the  drafting 
department  two  of  the  public  school  buildings  have  been  designed  by 
the  pupils.    The  girls  in  the  household  arts  course  manage  the  cafe- 


NATURE  AND   SCOPE   OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION        II 

teria  and  frequently  serve  luncheons  and  dinners  for  various  school 
functions.  The  girls  in  the  sewing  and  millinery  departments  often 
make  their  own  costumes. 

(c)  Semi-vocational  and  vocational  courses. — We  have  de- 
fined a  semi- vocational  course  as  one  that  prepares  directly  and 
with  relative  completeness  for  some  specific  occupation  in  life, 
at  the  same  time  giving  a  considerable  amount  of  general  cul- 
ture. The  best  example  of  a  semi-vocational  course  is  found  in 
our  commercial  high  schools,  which  make  it  their  chief  aim  to 
train  capable  book-keepers,  office  clerks,  stenographers,  and 
typists,  and  also  to  provide  their  pupils  with  a  considerable 
amount  of  liberal  education.  Such  schools,  therefore,  include 
in  addition  to  the  strictly  commercial  subjects,  courses  in  Eng- 
lish, history,  science,  some  mathematics,  and  foreign  language. 
To  this  more  general  type  of  work  about  half  of  the  total  course 
of  four  years  is  devoted. 

A  school  of  this  type,  just  organized,  offers  the  following: — English 
(four  years);  history  (four  years);  civics;  algebra,  commercial  arith- 
metic, rapid  calculations;  book-keeping;  penmanship;  correspondence; 
physics,  chemistry,  general  science;  French,  German,  and  Spanish; 
shorthand  and  typewriting;  commercial  geography,  commercial  law, 
economics.  To  these  are  added  drawing,  debate,  and  practice  in 
public  speaking.  A  definite  amount  of  work,  a  large  part  of  which  is 
of  a  vocational  nature,  is  required,  and  there  is  in  addition  a  wide 
range  of  choice  among  other  subjects.  No  pupil  can  graduate  from 
this  course  without  having  a  considerable  amount  of  general  knowl- 
edge and  culture. 

In  a  number  of  commercial  high  schools  a  two-year  course  of 
study  is  offered  that  is  strictly  vocational  in  its  nature.  There 
is  no  subject  in  the  curriculum  that  does  not  have  a  definite 
and  practical  relation  to  the  occupation  that  the  pupil  is  to 
follow  on  receiving  his  diploma.  In  this  two-year  commercial 
course  we  find  the  best  example  of  a  high  school  taking  upon 


12  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

itself  the  functions  of  a  trade  school.  The  total  number  of  sec- 
ondary schools  that  reported  offering  commercial  courses  in 
1915  was  3,625. 

A  number  of  high  schools  offer  in  their  senior  year  a  voca- 
tional course  designed  to  train  teachers  for  the  elementary 
schools.  Such  courses  were  offered  by  1,481  schools  in  1915. 
These  schools  are  found  chiefly  in  the  North  Central  states. 

Organization  of  High  Schools  in  Reference  to  Courses  of 
Study. — (a)  High  schools  offering  a  number  of  separate  courses 
of  study. — Many  high  schools  organize  their  curriculum  into 
distinct  courses  of  study,  such  as  the  "  Classical  Course,"  the 
"English  Course,"  the  "Modern-Language  Course,"  the  "Scien- 
tific Course,"  the  "Manual  Training  Course,"  the  "Business 
Course,"  the  "Domestic  Arts  Course,"  or  the  "Agricultural 
Course."  All  of  these  courses  have  subjects  in  common,  but 
they  have  others  that  are  peculiar  to  the  particular  course  in 
which  they  are  listed.  The  pupil  chooses  early  in  his  career 
which  course  he  wishes  to  follow,  and  after  he  has  entered  upon 
any  one  of  these  courses  it  becomes  increasingly  difficult  as  he 
progresses  to  change  over  to  another  course. 

(b)  High  schools  offering  a  wide  range  of  electives. — Another 
type  of  school  offers  an  equally  wide  range  of  subjects,  but  these 
are  not  specifically  grouped  into  definite  courses,  and  relatively 
free  election  under  direction  and  advice  is  permitted,  unless  the 
pupil  is  preparing  to  take  up  on  graduation  some  activity  of  a 
very  specific  and  definite  nature,  in  which  case  his  election  of 
subjects  will  be  strictly  determined  by  his  future  needs. 

(c)  High  schools  offering  a  few,  definitely  restricted,  and  highly 
organized  courses  of  study. — In  this  third  type  of  school  a  par- 
ticular group  of  subjects  is  taught  to  the  relative  exclusion  of 
others.  We  have,  for  example,  Classical  High  Schools,  Tech- 
nical High  Schools,  Commercial  High  Schools,  and  Agricultural 
High  Schools.  Schools  of  this  type  usually  develop  in  large 
centers  of  population,  or  in  communities  engaged  in  a  rather 


NATURE  AND  SCOPE  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION        13 

narrow  set  of  activities.  There  is  a  tendency  in  these  schools, 
especially  in  those  that  emphasize  largely  vocational  needs,  to 
offer  a  narrow  curriculum,  and  one  too  little  concerned  with 
general  culture. 

It  has  been  urged  that  schools  which  offer  combined  courses  of 
study  are  better  adapted  to  the  needs  of  our  American  life  for  the 
reasons,  (1)  that  combined  courses  are  more  economical  and  avoid 
unnecessary  duplication;  (2)  that  they  keep  interest  in  public  educa- 
tion a  unit  and  prevent  antagonisms  in  a  community  among  those 
who  emphasize  different  educational  values;  (3)  that  they  offer  boys 
and  girls  who  desire  vocational  training  the  more  liberal  training  pro- 
vided by  the  general  course;  (4)  and  chiefly  that  they  bring  together 
children  from  various  strata  of  society,  offer  them  a  common  train- 
ing, and  instill  in  them  the  same  essential  ideals,  a  matter  of  no  small 
importance  in  a  democracy. 

The  Size  of  the  American  High  School. — It  is  difficult  to 
describe  briefly  the  American  high  school  in  terms  of  its  aim  and 
its  course  of  study;  it  is  even  more  difficult  to  describe  it  from 
the  standpoint  of  its  size.  Here  the  range  is  great.  On  the  one 
hand  we  have  the  numerous  one,  two,  and  three  teacher  high 
schools,  generally  situated  in  small  rural  communities,  and 
poorly  housed  and  equipped,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  large 
city  high  school,  sometimes  with  hundreds  of  teachers,  and 
thousands  of  pupils,  splendidly  housed  and  magnificently 
equipped. 

An  example  of  a  school  of  the  latter  type  is  the  Washington  Irving 
High  School  in  New  York  City.  The  school  building  cost  one  mil- 
lion, two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  It  contains  among  other 
things  a  number  of  seven-room  model  apartments  in  connection  with 
the  courses  in  household  arts;  it  has  a  conservatory  on  the  roof  for 
instruction  in  botany;  cages  for  animals  borrowed  from  the  zoo;  a 
laundry  plant;  a  bookbinding  plant;  a  banking  department;  several 
large  rooms  with  two  hundred  sewing  machines;  typewriting  rooms; 
a  classroom  with  a  department  store  for  the  study  of  salesmanship. 


14  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

It  cares  for  six  thousand  pupils,  and  has  three  hundred  instructors 
on  its  faculty. 

The  one,  two,  and  three  teacher  high  schools  are  the  most 
frequent;  they  also  enroll  a  greater  number  of  pupils  than  do 
the  medium  sized  and  large  high  schools.  One  of  the  important 
problems  of  secondary  education  is  to  strengthen  these  smaller 
schools.  In  some  instances  they  are  given  state  aid.  Another 
movement  toward  making  them  more  efficient  is  to  consolidate 
these  weaker  schools  into  a  larger  and  better  central  school. 
When  this  is  done  we  find  in  many  rural  communities,  town- 
ship, and  in  some  instances  county  high  schools  that  have  taken 
the  place  of  the  local  high  schools,  and  that  have  modern  build- 
ings, substantial  equipment,  and  trained  teachers.  In  other 
localities  efforts  have  been  made  to  induce  communities  sup- 
porting these  small  and  inadequate  schools  to  cut  down  their 
course  of  study  from  four  to  two  years,  and  to  provide  for  the 
education  of  the  boys  and  girls  beyond  the  tenth  grade  by  send- 
ing them  to  a  large  neighboring  high  school  at  the  expense  of  the 
community  in  which  these  pupils  live. 

Present  Tendencies  in  Secondary  Education  in  Amer- 
ica.— (a)  Part-time  courses. — At  present,  secondary  education  in 
America  is  undergoing  marked  changes,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
predict  what  will  occur  to  modify  it  in  the  next  few  decades. 
We  have  already  mentioned  the  marked  trend  toward  voca- 
tional education.1  In  connection  with  this  movement  there 
have  been  introduced  in  a  number  of  our  technical  high  schools 
so-called  " part-time"  courses  that  are  largely  of  a  narrowly 
vocational  nature,  though  they  do  not  entirely  exclude  more 
liberal  studies.    These  courses  give  the  boy  a  chance  to  spend 

1  "Reorganizing  high  schools  to  meet  the  needs  of  all  the  people  chiefly 
through  vocational  subjects,"  is  the  note  that  runs  through  the  report  of  the 
high  school  authorities  in  practically  all  the  States.  (Report  of  the  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  1914.) 


NATURE  AND   SCOPE   OF   SECONDARY  EDUCATION        1 5 

part  of  his  time  in  the  high  school,  and  a  part  in  the  shops  of 
some  local  industry  in  the  capacity  of  an  apprentice. 

This  plan  was  first  worked  out  in  the  University  of  Cincinnati  in 
connection  with  the  engineering  school,  but  has  been  taken  up  by  a 
number  of  important  secondary  schools  particularly  in  Cincinnati, 
Beverly  and  Fitchburg.  According  to  the  Fitchburg  plan,  which  is 
typical,  the  first  year  the  boy  spends  all  of  his  time  in  the  school,  and 
the  next  three  years,  partly  in  the  school  and  partly  in  some  local 
shop.  Under  this  scheme  he  works  alternately  one  week  in  the 
school  and  one  week  in  the  shop.  He  is  associated  with  another  boy 
whose  work  is  so  arranged  that  the  week  the  first  boy  is  in  the  school 
the  second  boy  is  in  the  shop  engaged  in  the  work  that  the  first  boy 
has  left  on  going  back  to  the  school.  Boys  are  paid  for  their  work  in 
the  shops.    They  can  work  also  during  vacations. 

(b)  Continuation  courses. — Continuation  courses,  which  are 
common  in  Europe,  are  being  introduced  into  some  of  our 
American  high  schools,  and  are  closely  connected  with  voca- 
tional training. 

Such  a  course  was  established  in  Cincinnati  in  1909.  Under  this 
plan  apprentices  in  the  city  shops  attend  school  one  half-day  a  week 
without  loss  of  pay.  They  study  drawing,  shop  problems,  mechanics, 
applied  mathematics,  industrial  reading,  composition  and  civics. 
The  teacher  assists  the  boys  in  the  shops  two  half -days  a  week, 

(c)  Evening  courses. — The  evening  high  school  has  been  an 
integral  part  of  American  education  for  many  years,  but  it  is 
growing  in  influence,  efficiency,  and  extent  with  the  develop- 
ment of  the  vocational  tendencies  in  our  public  education.  It 
is  a  part  of  the  general  movement  to  make  a  wider  use  of  our 
school  plant,  and  to  give  opportunities  for  all  who  desire  to 
secure  a  better  preparation  for  life.  This  movement  began  in 
the  elementary  school,  but  has  extended  beyond  the  high  school 
into  many  of  our  best  universities  and  colleges. 


1 6  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

(d)  Credit  for  home  work. — In  the  attempt  to  bring  the  work 
of  the  classroom  more  closely  into  relation  with  life,  schools 
are  recognizing  activities  not  strictly  connected  with  the  cur- 
riculum as  being  worthy  of  credit  as  a  part  of  the  education  of 
the  boy  and  girl.  Credit  for  home  work  has  found  its  way  from 
the  elementary  school  to  the  high  school  in  a  number  of  locali- 
ties. 

For  example,  the  high  school  at  Santa  Monica,  California,  gives  two 
credits  out  of  the  sixteen  required  for  graduation  for  work  done  at 
home.  Credits  are  allowed  for  farm  work  of  various  sorts,  household 
duties,  work  in  local  trades  and  industries,  carrying  a  paper  route, 
and  for  correct  personal  habits,  such  as  sleeping  in  the  open  air,  re- 
tiring at  ten  o'clock,  taking  a  cold  bath,  and  walking  three  miles  a 
day.  Credit  is  granted  also  for  taking  music  lessons,  playing  golf  and 
tennis,  swimming,  and  summer  vacation  travel  with  a  written  descrip- 
tion submitted  to  the  teacher.  A  similar  arrangement  exists  in  the 
St.  Cloud,  Minnesota,  High  School.  Over  fifty  high  schools  in  Ne- 
braska and  neighboring  states  give  credit  for  work  done  at  home  in 
household  occupations. 

(e)  The  "Junior  High  School.11 — One  of  the  most  important 
movements  in  high  school  education  in  recent  years  is  the  or- 
ganization of  so-called  intermediate  schools,  or  junior  high 
schools,  as  they  are  more  commonly  named.  Under  this  plan 
the  elementary  education  of  the  child  ends  with  the  completion 
of  the  sixth  grade,  and  in  the  immediately  following  grades 
work  of  secondary  character  is  introduced.  There  are  various 
forms  which  this  movement  is  taking,  but  in  general  the  seventh 
and  eighth,  or  the  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  grades  are  sepa- 
rated from  the  elementary  school  and  reorganized  by  offering 
some  elective  subjects  to  provide  for  individual  tastes  and  dif- 
ferences. To  accomplish  this  a  number  of  pre- vocational  studies 
are  introduced,  and  some  of  the  standard  high  school  subjects, 
such  as  a  foreign  language  and  algebra,  are  added.  Generally 
departmental  teaching  takes  the  place  of  the  room  teaching 


NATURE  AND   SCOPE   OF   SECONDARY  EDUCATION        1 7 

of  the  grades.  The  work  in  the  junior  high  school  is  followed 
by  a  course  in  the  senior  high  school.  Thus  under  this  plan 
the  entire  period  of  secondary  education  covers  six  years.  In 
some  instances  the  junior  high  school  is  found  in  the  same 
building  with  the  elementary  school,  while  in  other  instances  it 
is  separately  housed  or  under  the  same  roof  with  the  senior 
high  school. 

Among  the  reasons  advanced  for  the  organization  of  junior  high 
schools  the  following  are  the  most  important:  (i)  The  earlier  be- 
ginning of  secondary  education  than  at  present  is  the  custom  in 
America  is  more  in  accord  with  the  practice  of  European  schools  and 
with  the  needs  of  child  nature;  (2)  it  makes  the  transition  from  ele- 
mentary to  secondary  education  less  abrupt;  (3)  it  keeps  pupils  longer 
in  school;  (4)  it  furnishes  an  opportunity  to  provide  for  individual 
tastes  and  differences  among  children  at  an  earlier  age  than  is  possible 
under  our  present  system;  (5)  it  allows  the  earlier  introduction  of 
such  subjects  as  foreign  language,  Kign  school  mathematics  and  pre- 
vocational  studies;  (6)  it  avoids  the  waste  connected  with  the  last 
two  years  of  the  elementary  school  program,  which  contains  much 
unnecessary  review,  and  which  emphasizes  far  beyond  any  actual 
need  the  formal  aspects  of  English  and  arithmetic. 

The  movement  for  the  junior  high  school  was  first  started  in  the 
United  States  about  ten  years  ago  and  during  the  last  decade  it  has 
been  put  into  operation  in  a  number  of  important  school  systems 
throughout  the  country.  According  to  Briggs,  who  outlines  the  status 
of  the  junior  high  school  in  the  report  of  the  United  States  Commis- 
sioner of  Education  for  1914,1  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  cities 
reported  that  they  had  one  or  more  junior  high  schools  in  operation 
in  some  of  its  forms,  although  over  half  of  this  number  do  not  satisfy 
the  details  in  many  particulars. 

(f)  The  "Junior  College" — In  various  parts  of  the  country, 
notably  in  California,  the  high  school  has  extended  its  work  up 
toward  the  college  as  well  as  down  toward  the  elementary  school. 

1  Vol.  I,  pp.  135-157- 


l8  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

This  upward  tendency  has  given  rise  to  the  "junior  college " 
in  which  the  equivalent  of  two  years  of  college  work  is  furnished 
in  the  high  school  in  a  graduate  course.  Pupils  are  thus  encour- 
aged to  continue  their  studies  beyond  the  normal  period  of  high 
school  education,  and  under  proper  conditions  are  admitted  to 
college  as  juniors  at  the  completion  of  the  high  school  course. 

Conservatism  Still  Pronounced  in  Secondary  Education 
Throughout  the  United  States. — In  following  the  discussion 
in  regard  to  the  changing  aspects  of  secondary  education  the 
reader  may  have  formed  the  impression  that  great  uncertainty 
and  diversity  exist  in  regard  to  high  school  aims  and  methods. 
This  is  true,  however,  only  to  a  degree.  Many  reforms  have 
been  advocated,  but  only  the  less  radical  have  been  put  into 
practice  to  any  considerable  extent.  As  has  already  been  pointec 
out  the  older  and  more  conservative  type  of  secondary  educa- 
tion still  dominates  the  situation.  Nevertheless  the  movement, 
already  well  under  way,  to  make  the  high  school  of  greater 
service  to  the  community  that  supports  it,  as  well  as  of  greatei 
practical  value  to  the  pupil  and  more  suited  to  his  needs,  wil 
continue  to  grow  in  force.1    The  young  teacher  who  enters  the 


xThe  experiment  in  secondary  education  about  to  be  undertaken 
Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  is  a  most  important  step  in  this 
direction.  A  statement  issued  by  the  General  Education  Board  (Jan.  19, 
191 7)  reads:  "The  General  Education  Board  announces  that  it  will  provide 
Teachers  College  of  Columbia  University  with  the  funds  necessary  to  estab- 
lish and  conduct  a  school  for  the  purpose  of  constructive  work  in  the 
reorganization  of  elementary  and  secondary  education.  The  keen  and  ex- 
tended discussion  of  President  Eliot's  paper  on  *  Changes  Needed  in  Second- 
ary Education'  and  Abraham  Flexner's  paper  on  'The  Modern  School' 
have  convinced  the  General  Education  Board  of  the  importance  of  support- 
ing a  school  conducted  in  cooperation  with  Teachers  College  for  the  purpos 
of  working  out  by  cautious  experimentation,  suggested  improvements  in  the 
curriculum,  so  that  it  may  be  better  adapted  to  the  needs  of  modern  life 
than  is  the  curriculum  now  in  common  use. 

"The  organization  of  the  school  under  the  auspices  of  Teachers  Colleg 
insures  the  careful  study  of  every  experiment  by  the  Faculty  of  Teachei 


NATURE  AND   SCOPE   OF   SECONDARY  EDUCATION         I Q 

profession  at  the  present  time,  and  who  remains  in  service  for 
any  considerable  period,  will  be  in  the  midst  of  important 
changes  and  must  have  a  mind  to  understand  them  and  a  sym- 
pathetic attitude  toward  them,  striving  to  evaluate  them  prop- 
erly and  to  aid  in  their  advancement  when  they  seem  desirable. 
Such  a  teacher  must  remember  that  the  high  school  is  aiming  to 
give  an  education  to  a  large  number  of  pupils  of  varied  home 
training,  tastes,  and  abilities,  and  that  no  aristocratic  or  ex- 
clusive notion  of  what  secondary  education  ought  to  be  will 
fit  the  high  school  situation  as  it  exists  today.    He  must  make 

College,  many  of  whom  are  among  the  ablest  critics  of  educational  procedure 
in  the  world.  This  arrangement  will  make  for  carefully  considered  and 
continuous  progress  toward  the  goal  for  which  the  school  is  established.  A 
number  of  colleges  have  already  expressed  interest  in  the  undertaking,  and  it 
is  hoped  that  academic  cooperation  will  be  obtained. 

"  In  the  curriculum  modern  languages  will  be  stressed  and  experiments  will 
be  made  with  a  view  to  determining  what  methods  of  teaching  English, 
French,  and  German  give  the  most  substantial  practical  results.  New  meth- 
ods of  teaching  literature,  history,  and  civics  will  be  tried,  and  in  this  connec- 
tion efforts  will  be  made  to  ascertain  whether  the  important  ancient  classics 
cannot  be  effectively  used  in  translations.  Latin  and  Greek  as  languages  will 
not  be  taught  in  the  school.  Science,  industry,  and  the  domestic  arts  will  be 
prominent  throughout  the  school,  and  increased  attention  will  be  given  to 
music,  drawing,  and  art.  The  subject  of  mathematics  will  receive  special 
consideration  in  the  hope  of  working  out  a  rational  course  of  study  which 
connects  the  study  of  mathematics  with  its  use,  and  which  also  makes  ade- 
quate provision  for  those  who  have  special  ability  or  desire  for  this  subject. 

"Organized  recreation,  play,  and  games  will  be  provided  for.  Constant 
efforts  will  be  made  by  means  of  individual,  class,  and  school  excursions,  by 
means  of  pictures,  lantern  slides,  charts,  maps,  shop  and  laboratory,  special 
reading  matter,  and  discussions,  to  give  the  pupils  sufficient  contact  with 
their  natural,  industrial,  social,  economic,  vocational,  and  domestic  environ- 
ment so  as  to  derive  the  basis  for  their  school  work  from  real  situations,  and 
thus  make  school  work  constantly  real  to  them.  The  school  will  frankly 
discard  that  theory  of  education  known  as  'formal  discipline,'  and  will 
undertake  to  secure  training  through  the  careful  and  thorough  study  of 
subjects  which  are  in  themselves  valuable.  It  is  believed  that  a  much  more 
effective  discipline  can  be  thus  secured." 


20  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

up  his  mind  that  more  and  more  the  demand  for  vocational 
and  practical  education  will  be  voiced,  and  that  the  older  ideas 
of  a  cultural  and  a  disciplinary  education  will  be  pushed  to  one 
side  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  present  day.  Above  all  he 
must  free  himself  from  the  notion  that  the  high  school  exists 
chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  boys  and  girls  for  college. 
This  does  not  mean  that  the  young  teacher  fresh  from  academic 
studies  is  to  abandon  his  college  ideals,  but  it  does  mean  that 
he  must  readjust  many  of  his  notions  in  order  to  make  them 
conform  to  the  present  dayfeim  of  education, -whose  watch- 
«w«rd  is  preparation  for  efficient  living  and  community  service. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  PUPIL 

The  Teacher  Must  Know  the  Pupil. — The  teacher  must 
teach  his  subject  to  individuals, — the  pupils  under  his  charge. 
This  is  a  truism  in  education,  but  one  that  cannot  be  repeated 
too  often,  particularly  to  the  young  teacher  fresh  from  college, 
where  he  has  been  given  the  impression  by  many  of  his  instruc- 
tors that  the  only  thing  necessary  for  him  to  know  is  his  sub- 
ject. Indeed  he  may  have  gained  the  idea  that  to  know  anything 
about  school  methods,  or  the  minds  of  his  pupils  is  beneath  the 
dignity  of  a  teacher  in  the  high  school.  Such  trivialities  should 
be  left  to  the  elementary  teacher,  he  feels.  Nothing,  however, 
could  be  farther  from  the  truth.  Though  no  teacher  should 
of  his  own  volition  seek  to  give  instruction  in  a  subject  with 
which  he  has  not  a  large^measure  of  familiarity,  and  though  high 
scholarship  and  accurate  knowledge  mean  much  for  his  success, 
they  are  not  the  only  elements  in  this  success.  The  teacher  who 
does  not  attempt  to  know  something  about  the  pupils  under 
him,  who  does  not  recognize  the  problems  of  fitting  his  instruc- 
tion to  their  needs,  interests,  and  capacities,  is  in  grave  danger  of 
failing.  The  best  teacher  is  the  one  who  knows  his  subject,  and 
at  the  same  time  knows  how  to  impart  it  to  his  pupils;  but  he 
cannot  know  how  to  impart  it  unless  he  knows  the  boys  and  girls 
under  his  charge,  both  individually  and  collectively.  To  know 
them  as  individuals  he  must  come  in  vital  contact  with  them  in 
the  classroom,  and  in  the  wider  life-o£  the  school.  He  cannot  be 
provided  with  this  knowledge  in  advance.  It  is  a  problem  for 
him  to  work  out  on  the  ground;  but  a  knowledge  of  his  pupils 
collectively,  an  understanding  of  the  type,  or  types  of  high 

21 


22  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

school  pupils  that  he  is  likely  to  encounter,  can  be  secured  in 
part  before  he  actually  meets  them.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this 
chapter  to  present  in  regard  to  boys  and  girls  of  high  school 
age  some  of  the  most  essential  facts  that  have  been  reasonably 
well  established  by  observation  and  investigation. 

The  High  School  Pupil  is  an  Adolescent.— First  of  all  it 
should  be  kept  in  mind  the  boys  and  girls  of  high  school  age  are 
adolescents,  just  developing  into  young  manhood  and  woman- 
hood. These  early  years  of  adolescence  are  in  many  ways  the 
most  critical  in  life,  and  they  mark  themselves  off  from  the  years 
of  childhood  and  of  full  maturity  in  a  fairly  distinct  way  in  most 
individuals,  and  in  a  striking  manner  in  a  few.    . 

At  this  point,  however,  the  writer  feels  that  a  word  of  caution 
should  be  uttered  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  have  gained  the 
impression  that  the  youth  is  a  fundamentally  different  indi- 
vidual from  the  child,  and  that  with  the  onset  of  puberty  there 
occur  changes  that  are  second  only  to  those  that  separate  the 
postnatal  existence  from  that  before  birth.  In  most  instances 
there  are  few  sudden  changes  that  announce  the  arrival  of  the 
pubescent  years.  Generally  there  are  no  marked  upheavals,  no 
cataclysms  in  habits,  thoughts  and  feelings,  no  radical  out- 

r  breaks,  or  uncontrollable  emotions.  While  interests,  ambitions 
and  ideals  take  on  new  forms,  the  great  fundamental  principles  of 
-  learning  are  the  same  for  the  child,  the  youth,  and  the  adult.  These 
will  be  discussed  in  later  chapters,  and  their  bearings  on  instruc- 
tion in  the  high  school  pointed  out.  In  passing  it  may  be  well  to 
say  that  repetition  and  drill  cannot  be  dispensed  with  at  the 
end  of  the  grammar  grades,  that  reasoning  ability  is  not  some- 
thing that  is  born  with  puberty,  but  that  it  develops  gradually 
from  childhood  on  to  maturity,  and  that  interest  and  purpose 
in  study  must  motivate  the  school  work  throughout  its  entire 
course. 

Yet,  while  emphasizing  the  essential  likeness  of  human  na- 
ture in  its  fundamental  elements,  we  must  recognize  the  fact 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  PUPIL  23 

that  the  changes  that  occur  with  the  coming  of  adolescence  are 
sufficiently  important  to  modify  in  many  ways  the  subject- 
matter  of  instruction  and  its  methods  of  presentation.  For 
these  reasons  the  next  few  pages  of  this  discussion  will  consider 
the  characteristics  of  this  period  of  life.  «\ 

The  Most  Important  Characteristics  of  Adolescence. — (a) 
Adolescence  is  a  period  of  mental  and  physical  change.— A\. though 
the  child  develops  from  year  to  year  both  in  mind  and  body, 
the  development  of  the  adolescent  is  on  the  whole  more  rapid, 
and  changes  sometimes  appear  with  considerable  abruptness. 
There  is  acceleration  in  the  growth  of  the  body  as  a  whole,  both 
in  height  and  weight,  that  comes  with  the  onset  of  puberty; 
there  is  also  growth  in  the  bones,  muscles,  and  various  bodily 
organs,  and  a  change  in  the  relative  size  and  weight  of  these 
parts.  Lung  capacity  and  blood  pressure  increase,  there  are 
the  well-known  changes  in  the  quality  and  pitch  of  the  voice, 
particularly  to  be  observed  in  boys,  and  although  there  is  no 
marked  increase  in  brain  weight,  it  is  probable  that  there  is  a 
development  of  the  brain-cells  and  their  connections.  Of  great 
significance  both  in  the  physical  and  the  mental  life  of  the  child 
is  the  rapid  development  to  functional  capacity  of  the  sex-organs 
at  this  time. 

As  marked  as  are  some  of  these  physical  changes,  they  are 
as  a  rule  overshadowed  by  the  mental  changes  with  which  they 
are  closely  associated.  This  is  the  time  when  the  feeling  and 
emotional  life  appears  in  new  forms,  sometimes  attended  with 
marked  upheavals.  On  the  intellectual  side  there  is  consider- 
able growth  in  intelligence  and  mental  grasp.  These  changes 
will  be  discussed  in  greater  detail  in  the  next  few  pages  with 
particular  reference  to  their  significance  for  education. 

(b)  Bodily  development  during  this  period  is  closely  related  to 
questions  of  hygiene  and  discipline. — The  health  of  the  pupil  is 
an  important  consideration  during  all  stages  of  instruction,  but 
the  rapid  growth  of  the  body  during  the  early  adolescent  period, 


24  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

raises  some  important  questions  that  the  teacher  should  keep 
in  mind.  While  but  a  relatively  small  percentage  of  children  in 
America  are  seriously  injured  by  school  occupations,  the  teacher 
should  remember  that  the  physical  development  of  the  young 
adolescent  often  makes  it  particularly  difficult  for  him  to  hold 
his  mind  to  a  task  for  any  great  length  of  time.  Lesson  assign- 
ments should  be  of  moderate  length,  generally  not  requiring 
more  than  an  hour's  preparation  outside  of  the  classroom. 
When  it  is  possible  during  the  class  period  to  help  the  pupil  in 
the  preparation  of  his  next  lesson  this  should  be  done.  Above 
all  the  teacher  should  never  assign  unnecessary  work  to  the 
pupil,  merely  "to  give  him  enough  to  do."  Insist  on  faithful- 
ness and  accuracy,  but  do  not  expect  too  much.  The  adolescent 
girl  should  be  given  special  consideration.  There  are  times 
when  she  needs  particular  indulgence;  times  when  school  tasks 
should  be  lightened,  or  even  entirely  remitted. 

Both  boys  and  girls  often  show  provoking  tendencies  toward 
inattention,  day-dreaming,  and  downright  laziness.  These 
mental  lapses  are  in  part  due  to  physical  conditions.  While  the 
teacher  should  do  all  in  his  power  to  stimulate  flagging  zeal  and' 
recall  wandering  attention,  he  should  not  too  readily  assume 
that  the  pupil's  provoking  attitude  is  due  to  a  real  perversity 
on  his  part.  The  changes  in  the  vocal  organs  have  a  close  bear- 
ing on  the  teacher's  problem.  The  stammering  and  hesitating 
boy,  who  sometimes  refuses  to  the  point  of  obstinacy  to  talk, 
may  have  a  reason  for  his  hesitancy,  diffidence,  and  seeming 
stupidity  in  a  lack  of  control  over  his  voice.  Under  such  condi- 
tions declamation  and  singing  are  not  likely  to  be  valuable 
exercises.  The  giggling  girl,  one  of  the  most  disturbing  factors 
in  the  high  school  classroom,  is  not  merely  silly;  she  lacks  con- 
trol of  both  body  and  mind.  In  dealing  with  these  and  similar 
cases  the  teacher  must  be  firm,  but  sympathetic.  To  accept 
these  annoying  conditions  as  necessary  and  therefore  as  unavoid- 
able is  to  adopt  a  hopeless  fatalism;  to  consider  them  examples 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  PUPIL  25 

of  original  sin  is  an  equal  folly.  The  pupil  must  be  disciplined, 
but  there  should  be  no  irritation  or  unnecessary  unkindness  in 
his  discipline. 

(c)  Various  instinctive  tendencies  manifest  themselves  with 
great  strength. — During  the  early  adolescent  period  certain  in- 
stincts, heretofore  nascent,  or  but  weakly  expressed,  assert 
themselves  with  vigor.  Chief  among  these  are  those  complex 
tendencies  that  center  around  sex.  The  attraction  of  the  boy  for 
the  girl  and  the  girl  for  the  boy  appears  in  a  new  form.  Whether 
this  attraction  shall  develop  into  something  noble  and  uplifting, 
or  into  something  base  and  destroying,  depends  largely  upon 
the  proper  education  of  the  youth  at  this  period.  For  this 
education  the  school  shares  responsibility  with  the  home  and 
the  church,  indeed  in  many  instances  it  is  the  school  alone  that 
can  guide  the  young  person  safely  through  this  time  of  storm 
and  stress.  No  high  school  teacher  should  shirk  the  duty  im- 
posed. He  should  be  on  the  alert  to  recognize  dangerous  ten- 
dencies in  the  behavior  of  pupils  in  his  classes  or  in  the  school 
building  and  to  check  them  at  the  outset.  In  most  instances  he 
cannot  give  formal  moral  instruction,  or  discuss  matters  of  sex 
hygiene,  but  he  should  never  lose  an  appropriate  opportunity, 
to  emphasize  the  highest  of  ideals  in  regard  to  the  relation  of 
the  sexes.    Indirectly  in  various  ways  he  can  do  much  to  help. 

The  teacher  of  literature  or  history  can  in  many  instances,  without 
departing  from  the  regular  work  of  instruction,  and  without  forcing 
facts  out  of  their  proper  relation,  find  opportunity  to  emphasize  the 
great  moral  truths  of  human  experience.  He  should  not  give  a  lec- 
ture in  ethics,  but  he  should  consider  it  imperative  to  neglect  no  real 
occasion  to  impress  upon  his  pupils  the  great  value  of  those  virtues 
of  thought  and  action  that  have  made  sex-love  one  of  the  loftiest  of 
all  forms  of  human  expression. 

The  teacher  0/  biology  has  an  equal  opportunity  in  another  and 
somewhat  different  way.  He  can  do  much  to  correct  the  indecent 
notions  that  center  around  sex  and  to  remove  the  absurd  "taboo" 


26  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

concerning  it,  by  direct,  simple  and  scientific  statements  of  the  facts 
of  reproduction  as  they  appear  in  the  animal  and  plant  world.  Much 
of  the  vileness  in  thought  and  action  of  youth  results  from  the  fact 
that  these  things  are  kept  in  the  dark.  They  are  considered  base 
because  they  are  made  to  appear  base  by  the  social  attitude  of  re- 
pression concerning  them.  Boys  and  girls  will  not  remain  in  ignorance 
of  the  facts.  It  is  better  that  they  should  learn  them  as  they  are, 
devoid  of  misconception  and  immoral  implication,  than  to  pick  them 
up  from  the  worst  possible  sources  saturated  with  filth  and  distorted 
by  untruth.  Every  teacher  of  physiology  and  botany  should  at  the 
beginning  of  the  course  consult  with  the  school  principal  and  deter- 
mine just  what  should  be  taught  in  this  regard,  and  when  and  how 
such  information  should  be  imparted. 

Youth  is  often  prone  to  tire  of  home  surroundings;  there  is  a 
longing  to  get  away  from  the  hum-drum  routine  of  daily  living, 
and  to  seek  new  experiences  and  adventure  in  the  big  world 
that  lies  over  the  rim  of  the  horizon.  What  is  sometimes  callecf 
the  "migratory  instinct"  now  appears  in  its  greatest  force,  and 
the  boy  in  particular  often  feels  its  pulling  power.  School  tasks 
are  for  most  children  at  times  a  burden,  but  never  more  so  than 
in  these  first  years  of  adolescence.  To  hold  the  pupil  in  the  high 
school,  the  work  must  be  made  attractive.  It  should  be  the 
aim  of  every  teacher  to  make  the  classroom  and  the  laboratory 
a  place  where  the  pupil  likes  to  be.  This  does  not  mean  that 
the  teacher  should  not  require  thorough  work  and  honest  work, 
but  it  does  mean  that  he  should  do  all  in  his  power  to  inject  into 
the  work  every  bit  of  human  interest  possible,  to  make  the  sub- 
ject that  he  teaches  appeal  to  all  legitimate  tendencies  in  young 
people,  as  far  as  this  can  be  done  without  vital  injury  to  the 
subject  taught.  Dry-as-dust  methods,  and  dull  logical  forms 
of  presentation  may  possibly  succeed  in  the  elementary  school, 
but  they  are  for  the  most  part  sad  failures  in  high  school.  The 
young  teacher  should  not  attempt  to  present  a  subject  in  the 
form  in  which  he  learned  it  in  college,  unless  he  feels  certain  that 


THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  PUPIL  27 

this  is  the  form  best  suited  to  awaken  the  interest  of  the  pupils 
under  his  direction.  It  is  a  common  error  of  the  inexperienced 
teacher  to  carry  over,  often  in  detail,  the  subject-matter  and 
its  method  of  treatment  from  the  college  to  the  high  school. 

In  recent  years  much  thought  has  been  given  to  the  question  of 
attracting  a  large  number  of  boys  and  girls  to  the  high  school  and  of 
keeping  them  there  as  long  as  possible.  The  problem  is  to  awaken 
and  to  hold  the  interest.  For  this  reason,  in  part  at  least,  subjects 
that  make  a  broad  appeal  to  fundamental  instincts  and  ambitions 
have  been  added  to  the  curriculum  in  ever  increasing  numbers,  and 
methods  have  been  revised  to  make  the  subjects  more  attractive.  The 
tendency  to  manipulate  and  construct  has  been  in  part  satisfied  by 
the  manual  courses;  vocational  ambitions  have  been  appealed  to  by 
the  introduction  of  commercial  and  technical  courses;  the  attempt 
to  satisfy  the  interest  in  doing  something  rather  than  in  going  through 
a  series  of  formal  exercises  in  preparation  for  doing  something  later 
jfcas  led  to  the  development  of  the  direct  method  of  teaching  lan- 
guage in  which  the  initial  grammatical  work  is  cut  down  to  a  mini- 
mum, and  the  pupil  begins  to  speak  and  read  the  language  almost 
from  the  first  day. »  Science  is  now  sometimes  taught  by  taking  up  at 
the  outset  some  big  fact  in  human  experience  and  later  discovering 
the  elementary  principles  that  lie  at  the  basis  of  it,  rather  than  by 
studying  the  elements  and  later  finding  out  how  they  enter  into  ac- 
tual things.  So,  too,  history  and  literature  in  many  classes  are  no 
longer  a  dry  catalog  of  facts  and  dates,  but  they  are  subjects  that 
make  a  direct  appeal  to  the  immediate  interests  of  young  people  by 
bringing  the  characters  and  events  into  vital  connection  with  the 
actual,  pulsating  present. 

Youth  is  essentially  social .  The  desire  to  flock  with  one's  kind, 
the  "gregarious  instinct"  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  deep-seated 
in  the  human  race,  a"nd  is  also  a  marked  tendency  among  ani- 
mals. It  is  never  absent  from  life  from  the  time  when  little 
children  first  play  together  until  the  very  end,  but  never  is  it 

1  See  Chapters  IX.,  p.  193,  and  X.,  p.  201. 


28  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

more  intense  than  at  the  high  school  age.  At  this  period,  too, 
come  out  in  full  force  other  social  tendencies.  Not  only  do 
youth  like  to  congregate  together,  but  they  have  strong  "feeling 
jorjbind."  They  show  sympathy  as  never  before,  they  strive 
actively  to  cooperate,  they  desire  approbation,  they  have  a 
regard  for  the  rights  of  others  even  at  the  expense  of  their  own 
wishes,  and  they  show  a  loyalty  to  those  of  their  group  that  at 
times  is  little  less  than  heroic.  All  the  best  tendencies  at  the 
basis  of  altruism  may  appear  now  in  their  greatest  strength. 
The  school  and  the  teacher  must  recognize  these  socializing 
factors,  give  them  all  legitimate  opportunity  for  expression  and 
use  them  when  possible  for  the  attainment  of  desired  educational 
ends. 

The  school  should  have  a  reasonable  number  of  social  functions, 
properly  supervised  and  controlled  by  the  teaching  staff.  The  teacher 
should  consider  it  a  part  of  his  duty  to  stimulate  desirable  school  or- 
ganizations and  to  give  some  of  his  time  to  promoting  them.  Musical 
clubs,  dramatic  clubs,  debating  societies,  athletic  organizations,  and 
even  dancing  clubs  have  their  place  in  the  well-regulated  high  school 
that  cares  for  the  best  interests  of  its  pupils.  These  organizations, 
however,  must  be  open  and  democratic.  Secret  societies  have  no 
place  in  the  high  school,  and  clubs  founded  on  any  basis  other  than 
that  of  membership  in  the  high  school  and  ability  to  enter  upon  the 
activities  that  they  tend  to  promote,  are  a  menace  to  the  integrity 
of  the  school. 

The  "social  instincts"  should  be  provided  for  not  only  through 
school  organizations;  they  should  be  given  opportunity  to 
express  themselves  in  the  class  work.  Every  teacher  should  aim 
to  make  his  class  a  social  unit, — a  distinctly  cooperative  affair.1 
Each  pupil  should  have  the  attitude  of  contributing  something 
to  the  class  as  a  whole.  He  should  recite  not  to  the  teacher,  but 
to  the  class;  he  should  bring  into  the  class  special  bits  of  informa- 

1  See  particularly  Chapter  VII.,  p.  148. 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  PUPIL  29 

tion  for  the  use  of  all.    The  teacher  should  guide,  organize  and 
direct,  but  not  completely  dominate. 

Our  school  rooms  are  so  arranged  physically  as  to  prevent  coopera- 
tion. The  desks  should  not  be  placed  in  formal  rows  as  at  present  is 
almost  universally  the  custom,  but  the  pupils  should  be  seated  in 
chairs  arranged  in  a  semi-circle  with  the  teacher  in  the  center.  Each 
pupil  who  takes  part  in  a  class  exercise  could  then  easily  address  the 
class  as  a  whole.  He  would  look  into  the  faces  of  his  mates,  and  not 
into  the  back  of  their  necks.  The  tendency  to  recite  merely  to  the 
teacher  would  then  be  largely  done  away  with.  The  pupil  would 
"talk  up,"  not  mumble  or  whisper  as  he  often  does  at  present.  The 
whole  tone  of  the  recitation  would  be  greatly  improved.  Unfortu- 
nately the  teacher  can  do  but  little  to  overcome  the  inherent  diffi- 
culties due  to  the  present  seating  arrangement.  When  he  has  a  small 
class  in  a  large  room  he  can,  however,  arrange  his  pupils  by  seating 
them  in  the  back  row,  and  in  the  two  outside  rows,  thus  placing  them 
in  the  form  of  three  sides  of  a  hollow  square.  This  method  of  seating 
should  be  followed  when  it  is  possible. 

Although  the  teacher  can  do  little  in  regard  to  proper  seating,  he 
can  accustom  his  class  to  recite  to  the  class  and  not  merely  to  him; 
he  can  ask  individuals  when  they  discuss  a  topic  of  some  length,  or 
read  before  the  class  to  stand  in  the  front  of  the  room,  facing  their 
mates;  he  can  assign  to  individual  members  topics  to  look  up  or 
facts  to  investigate  as  a  basis  for  subsequent  report,  and  at  times 
he  can  let  certain  pupils  aid  him  in  teaching  the  class.  The  teacher, 
however,  should  never  surrender  entire  control;  he  should  always  be 
on  hand  to  guide,  direct,  and  if  necessary  to  interfere.  The  writer 
observed  recently  a  class  in  current  events  organized  with  a  chair- 
man, and  with  the  teacher  a  mere  onlooker,  who  was  supposed  in 
no  way  to  interfere.  This  class  spent  the  entire  period  of  forty  min- 
utes in  discussing  the  spelling  of  Serbia,"  developing  a  heated  contro- 
versy of  the  most  trivial  nature,  and  ending  in  no  very  definite  con- 
clusion. This  was  a  period  wasted.  No  teacher  can  afford  to  conduct 
a  class  of  this  sort. 

One  of  the  most  important  sentiments  developed  through  the 
maturing  of  the  cooperative  and  socializing  tendencies  of  adoles- 


30  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

cence  is  that  of  loyalty  mentioned  above.  This  loyalty  is  specific. 
It  is  group  loyalty.  There  is  no  more  important  human  ideal 
than  that  of  loyalty,  and  although  it  may  seem  to  be  too  nar- 
rowly expressed,  it  should  be  carefully  nurtured.  The  pupil 
should  never  be  encouraged  to  be  a  tale-bearer.  The  tell-tale 
is  neither  loyal  to  his  fellows,  the  teacher,  nor  the  school.  He 
is  generally  seeking  his  own  advantage,  or  is  a  prig.  The  dis- 
cipline of  a  school  that  rests  on  tale-bearers  is  likely  to  be  a 
failure.  Only  under  the  most  extreme  conditions  where  the 
fundamental  welfare  of  the  school  is  at  stake  should  a  boy  or 
girl  be  encouraged,  or  even  allowed,  to  "tell  on  his  fellows." 
We  must  remember  that  if  the  adolescent  fails  to  be  loyal  to  the 
group,  to  "his  group,"  he  is  likely  never  to  be  loyal  to  anybody 
or  anything. 

While  it  is  not  wise  to  encourage  tale-bearing,  it  is  possible  to  con- 
trol the  members  of  the  group  through  appealing  to  the  group  to 
safeguard  its  best  interests.  If  the  group  can  be  impressed  with  the 
necessity  of  holding  to  strict  accountability  all  individuals  who  com- 
mit offences  that  work  injury  to  the  group,  if  a  class  or  school  can  be 
made  to  realize  the  importance  of  protecting  itself  against  those 
members  who  are  likely  to  bring  it  into  disrepute,  this  social  senti- 
ment will  accomplish  wonders  in  discipline,  and  the  teacher  need 
rarely  to  interfere. 

It  often  happens  that  such  offences  as  dishonesty  can  be  dealt  with 
adequately  by  making  the  group  see  and  feel  that  a  cheat  is  an  injury 
to  its  good  name;  that  he  destroys  cooperation  between  teacher  and 
class,  creating  an  attitude  of  suspicion  and  distrust  that  work  to  the 
harm  of  all.1  Indeed  it  is  generally  impossible  to  deal  effectively  with 
classroom  dishonesty  by  any  other  method  than  by  arousing  the  re- 
sentment of  the  pupils  as  a  body  toward  it.  This  matter  will  be  more 
fully  discussed  in  Chapter  VI. 

(a)  Youth  is  a  period  of  intense,  though  often  conflicting  and 
fluctuating  interests. — Closely  associated  with  the  maturing  in- 

1  See  Chapter  VI.,  p.  123. 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  PUPIL  3 1 

stincts  discussed  above  are  various  adolescent  interests  that 
from  time  to  time  express  themselves  with  great  force,  often 
in  exaggerated,  intense,  and  contradictory  forms.  To  these 
interests  the  teacher  may  appeal  with  great  advantage 
at  times;  he  can  never  safely  ignore  them  or  thwart 
them. 

At  this  time,  particularly  with  boys,  the  vocational  interest 
looms  large.  These  young  people  are  beginning  to  think  about 
careers,  and  they  wish  to  see  a  connection  between  what  they 
study  and  what  they  hope  to  do  after  they  leave  school.  Teach- 
ers of  the  recognized  vocational  subjects  have  here  a  great  ad- 
vantage over  those  who  have  charge  of  the  older  "academic 
courses."  A  pupil  can  easily  see  how  a  course  in  stenography, 
book-keeping,  or  shop-practice  may  help  him  later  on,  but  it  is 
difficult  to  make  him  feel  that  Latin,  geometry,  or  even  his- 
tory is  likely  to  play  any  considerable  part  in  his  adult  life.  For- 
tunately there  are  interests  other  than  those  centering  around 
narrowly  practical  ideals  that  can  be  appealed  to  by  teachers 
of  these  latter  subjects.  It  is  often  possible,  however,  to  make 
the  most  academic  topic  take  a  practical  bearing,  and  whenever 
this  can  be  done  without  injuring  in  any  essential  way  the  de- 
velopment of  the  course  or  the  lesson,  it  should  be  attempted. 

One  of  the  greatest  faults  of  our  teaching  is  that  it  is  not 
closely  enough  related  to  life  as  the  pupil  understands  it  and 
knows  it.  It  is  a  vicious  educational  theory  which  holds  that 
a  subject  in  high  school  or  college  is  deprived  of  its  cultural  and 
disciplinary  values  when  the  pupil  selects  it  because  he  believes 
that  it  is  to  be  of  some  definite  use  to  him  and  because  he  sees 
in  it  some  application  to  the  world  about  him.  Any  subject 
or  course  of  study  is  vivified  and  vitalized  when  the  learner  be- 
lieves that  it  has  for  him  a  definite  value.  In  America  we  have 
carried  the  notion  of  culture  and  discipline  divorced  from  use 
to  an  extreme  unknown  in  any  other  system  of  education  in 
the  western  world. 


32  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

As  a  rule  the  best  teachers  of  such  subjects  as  language,  literature, 
history,  and  mathematics  take  pains  to  make  a  direct  application 
whenever  it  fits.  Even  Latin  has  its  practical  side.  It  stimulates  the 
interest  of  the  pupil  when  the  teacher  shows  him  the  connection  be- 
tween Latin  words  and  their  English  derivatives  or  the  place  of  Latin 
in  modern  literature.  In  French  and  German  the  practical  and  hu- 
man sides  are  even  more  obvious,  and  Spanish  is  now  being  intro- 
duced in  the  high  school  curriculum  almost  entirely  because  of  com- 
mercial reasons.  While  the  teaching  of  English  composition  is  being 
approached  more  and  more  from  the  standpoint  of  social  and  business 
correspondence,  and  newspaper  writing,  there  is  still  too  much  for- 
malism in  the  ordinary  high  school  theme.  The  teacher  should  keep 
in  mind  that  the  function  of  written  discourse  is  to  express  ideas,  and 
he  should  aim  to  make  his  subject  connect  itself  with  ideas  that  the 
pupils  have  and  desire  to  express.  The  teacher  of  English  literature 
or  of  history  must  strive  at  every  point  to  make  his  subject  seem 
"real"  to  the  class,  and  to  make  it  a  reality  he  must  bring  it  into 
some  definite  relation  with  their  lives.  This  does  not  mean  that  he 
must  demonstrate  its  narrow  utilitarian  value,  but  it  does  mean  that 
he  must  impress  upon  his  pupils  the  sense  that  the  facts  and  ideas 
that  they  find  in  their  text-books  or  that  are  brought  out  in  the  class- 
room have  something  in  common  with  their  own  experience.  In 
United  States  history  and  in  civics  the  applications  are  on  every  hand, 
and  a  teacher  who  presents  these  subjects  merely  as  text-book  and 
recitation  courses  has  failed  to  avail  himself  of  a  splendid  oppor- 
tunity. Teachers  of  high  school  mathematics  and  natural  science 
are  attempting  in  many  instances  to  get  away  from  a  merely  theo- 
retical and  logical  presentation  of  their  subjects  and  to  give  problems 
whenever  possible  that  are  in  the  practical  field.1 

Although  vocational  interests  loom  large  in  the  early  adoles- 
cent years  there  are  other  and  less  practical  motives  that  are 
equally  intense.  It  is  one  of  the  paradoxes  of  this  period  of  life 
that  while  the  adolescent  is  often  most  narrowly  utilitarian, 
and  is  inclined  to  ask  the  use  of  the  studies  that  he  pursues,  he 

1  See  Chapter  XII.,  p.  270. 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  PUPIL  33 

is  on  many  occasions  broadly  idealistic.  When  he  is  in  the 
mood  he  is  far  less  practical  than  the  child  in  the  grades  or-  the 
man  in  adult  life.  Big  ideals  often  sway  him.  Among  the  non- 
practical  interests  h\*Jfntp.llp.r.f/iial  jdeah;  stand  out  strongly.  He 
often  has  a  burning  desire  to  know,  he  is  genuinely  curious,  he 
loves  to  argue  and  debate,  he  sometimes  is  rilled  with  a  passion 
for  reading,  and  his  linguistic  interests  are  apt  to  be  strong.  He 
is  less  prone  than  formerly  to  follow  the  ideas  of  others;  and  mere 
memory  cram  is  often  distasteful  and  generally  profitless.  At 
this  stage  of  the  pupil's  development  the  teacher  should  par- 
ticularly strive  to  state  the  school  work  as  far  as  possible  in  the 
form  of  problems,  of  course  problems  that  are  real  problems  for 
him;  problems  that  awaken  his  curiosity  and  urge  him  toward 
their  solution.  Appeal  to  his  originality  and  inventiveness  in 
terms  of  his  genuine  interests  should  be  made  whenever  pos- 
sible. Every  proper  incentive  should  be  given  the  pupil  to  read 
and  to  read  the  best  things;  he  should  have  opportunity  under 
wise  supervision  and  direction  to  present  his  own  reasons  for 
his  opinions  and  beliefs,  and  his  linguistic  interests  should  be 
appealed  to  through  direct  methods  of  language  teaching,  when- 
ever such  methods  are  possible. 

The  teachers  of  science  sometimes  miss  golden  opportunities  to 
appeal  to  the  curiosity  of  the  pupil  and  to  stimulate  his  self-activity 
in  the  solution  of  problems  in  physics,  chemistry,  and  biology.  The 
laboratory  exercises  are  often  quite  formal,  the  pupil  has  no  genuine 
desire  to  discover  new  facts  or  principles,  and  he  goes  through  a  series 
of  careful  instructions  contained  in  a  laboratory  manual  in  a  me- 
chanical way.  He  may  be  interested  in  the  manipulation  of  his  ma- 
terials, but  a  genuine  scientific  curiosity  is  for  the  most  part  lacking. 
Whenever  it  is  possible,  the  teacher  of  the  natural  sciences  should 
aim  in  the  class  period  preceding  a  laboratory  exercise  to  develop  the 
subject  to  the  point  where  the  class  are  eager  to  know  what  follows 
or  happens  next.1    They  should  see  the  problem  and  try  to  state  it 

1  See  Chapter  XIV.,  p.  307. 


34  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

themselves.  The  teacher  should  merely  guide  and  direct  them  toward 
its  formulation.  Then  he  should  send  them  into  the  laboratory,  fur- 
nished with  a  sufficient  amount  of  instruction  as  to  the  technique  and 
method  of  solution  to  prevent  unnecessary  errors,  waste,  and  loss  of 
time,  but  he  should  not  give  them  minute  instructions  as  to  every 
detail  of  their  experiment.  As  supervisor  of  the  laboratory  period  he 
can  help  those  who  need  help  when  the  necessity  arises,  but  he  must 
see  to  it  that  this  help  is  given  only  when  there  is  an  actual  need. 
The  self-activity  of  the  pupil  should  be  appealed  to  as  much  as 
possible. 

In  a  similar  way  the  teacher  of  geometry  should  lead  his  pupils  to 
see  certain  spatial  relationships  without  telling  them  that  these  rela- 
tions exist.  The  pupil  should  state  the  problem  himself  and  attempt 
to  solve  it  by  the  aid  of  the  teacher,  rather  than  learn  it  as  a  mere 
memory  exercise  in  the  formal  and  logical  manner  of  the  text-book. 
This  should  be  used  as  a  supplement  of  the  work  rather  than  as  the 
chief  source  of  instruction.1 

To  stimulate  reading  interests  is  one  of  the  chief  aims  of  culture. 
The  teacher  of  literature  is  generally  given  this  task,  yet  it  should  not 
be  confined  to  him  alone.  There  is  no  subject  in  the  curriculum  that 
does  not  lead  the  pupil  to  books,  if  the  subject  is  so  presented  as  to 
arouse  further  desire  for  information.  As  far  as  possible  collateral 
reading  by  high  school  pupils  should  not  be  made  too  formal.  A 
pupil  who  wishes  to  know  more  about  something  should  be  referred 
to  some  book  or  article  that  will  tell  what  he  wishes  to  know  in  a 
simple  and  direct  manner.  Later  the  pupil  should  briefly  tell  to  the 
class  the  essential  facts  that  he  has  discovered  in  his  reading.  The 
teacher  of  literature  who  is  striving  to  give  his  pupils  a  taste  for  the 
best  things  should  have  a  care  not  to  kill  their  reading  interests  at 
the  outset  by  assigning  them  literary  masterpieces  that  they  cannot 
comprehend  or  enjoy.  It  is  better  to  cultivate  a  desire  to  read  by 
sending  the  pupil  to  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  than  to  kill  that 
desire  by  offering  him  Paradise  Lost  when  he  is  not  capable  of 
becoming  interested  in  it. 

One  of  the  most  successful  methods  of  stimulating  literary  inter- 
ests that  the  writer  has  observed  was  in  a  class  in  English  that  was 
1  See  Chapter  XIII.,  p.  281  and  Appendix  C,  p.  422. 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL  PUPIL  35' 

given  as  a  text,  a  book  containing  extracts  from  writings  of  excellence, 
selected  with  the  definite  attempt  of  making  an  appeal  to  the  pupils. 
The  teacher  told  enough  of  the  story  to  lead  up  to  the  extract  read  by 
the  class,  but  he  never  told  the  sequel.  The  demand  for  the  books 
containing  the  whole  story  became  so  great  that  the  public  library  in 
the  city  could  not  supply  it.  There  was  not  a  pupil  in  the  class  that 
did  not  want  to  know  how  some  story  "came  out,"  and  most  of  the 
class  wanted  to  know  how  the  majority  of  the  stories  ended.  In  an- 
other instance  a  teacher  of  literature  varied  this  method  by  requiring 
the  pupils  to  write  how  they  thought  the  story  ended  and  read  their 
compositions  to  the  class. 

The  aesthetic,  moral  and  religious  interests  of  adolescence  are 
without  doubt  in  part  connected  with  the  physical  development 
and  the  maturing  of  instincts  that  characterize  this  period.  An 
impersonal  love  for  beauty  and  for  nature  seems  to  be  more 
prominent  at  this  time  than  ever  before.  The  little  child  is 
attracted  by  bright  colors,  is  extremely  sensitive  to  rhythm,  and 
shows  at  times  considerable  creative  ability,  particularly  in  his 
drawings.  He  has  the  capacity  to  learn  the  technique  of  various 
arts,  but  he  is  lacking  in  genuine  appreciation  of  music,  painting, 
sculpture,  and  literature.  With  youth  this  is  not  so.  He  often 
shows  a  veritable  passion  for  the  beautiful,  his  appreciation  for 
the  products  of  art,  though  generally  crude  is  sincere,  and  he 
is  nearer  to  creative  genius  than  at  any  other  time  in  his  life. 
It  is  a  fact  to  be  regretted  that  our  high  schools  for  the  most 
part  offer  little  that  is  distinctly  calculated  to  stimulate  and  de- 
velop genuine  artistic  interest.  Most  courses  in  art  are  formal 
and  technical,  and  of  these  the  number  offered  is  few.  Of  the 
subjects  ordinarily  included  in  the  high  school  curriculum  the 
courses  in  English  offer  the  best  opportunity  of  teaching  artistic 
appreciation  and  stimulating  creative  ability.  This  aspect  of 
the  teaching  of  English  should  not  be  subordinated  to  the  gram- 
matical, technical,  and  historical  phases  of  the  subject,  as  is 
too  often  the  case. 


36  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

Moral  ideals  and  religious  enthusiasms  first  appear  in  their 
strength  during  the  high  school  period.  As  a  rule  there  is  little 
definite  attempt  made  to  give  direct  moral  and  religious  in- 
struction, but  there  are  many  occasions  when  the  teacher  can 
appeal  to  the  finest  and  best  in  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  his 
pupils  through  indirect  means.  Noble  purposes,  high  ideals, 
love  of  truth,  attitudes  of  respect  for  authority  and  a  reverence 
for  the  best  things  in  human  life,  these  and  many  other  high 
aspirations  from  time  to  time  touch  the  lives  of  the  youth  with 
vital  force.  Here  lie  the  teacher's  opportunity  and  his  clear 
duty. 

The  Enrollment  in  our  American  High  Schools  Includes 
Pupils  of  Varying  Social  Status  and  Marked  Difference  in 
Abilities. — High  school  pupils  in  America,  as  we  saw  in  the  dis- 
cussion in  our  first  chapter,  do  not  come  from  a  narrowly  selected 
group.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  economic  condition  of  the 
parents  has  relatively  little  influence  on  whether  the  boy  or  the 
girl  continues  a  course  of  study  beyond  the  elementary  school. 
The  social  condition  of  the  parents  is  also  not  a  very  important 
factor.  Poor  and  unlettered  parents  who  have  a  genuine  desire 
to  give  their  children  an  education  generally  manage  to  do  so 
through  the  medium  of  the  public  high  school. 

A  study  made  by  J.  K.  Van  Denberg  of  a  thousand  boys  and  girls 
picked  at  random,  who  entered  the  New  York  City  high  schools  in 
February,  1906,  showed  that  among  the  fathers  of  these  children 
there  are  "as  many  compositors  as  there  are  doctors,  lawyers,  clergy- 
men, and  teachers  combined.  There  are  nearly  twice  as  many  '  tail- 
ors/— that  is  workers  on  garments.  There  are  as  many  waiters  as 
there  are  architects;  as  many  barbers  as  there  are  civil  and  electrical 
engineers;  as  many  janitors  as  there  are  dentists  and  editors  together. 
The  policemen,  carpenters,  masons,  plumbers,  metal  workers,  paint- 
ers, compositors,  and  firemen  outnumber  the  doctors,  lawyers,  clergy- 
men, and  teachers  five  to  one.  Coachmen,  street  cleaners,  elevator 
men,  Turkish-bath  attendants,  watchmen,  and  laundry  workers  send 


THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  PUPIL  37 

sons  to  the  high  school.  Coachmen,  elevator  men,  and  watchmen 
send  as  many  as  clergymen  and  teachers."  1  Van  Denberg's  investiga- 
tion further  shows  that  nearly  three-quarters  of  the  families  whose 
home  conditions  were  investigated  were  paying  ten  to  twenty-five 
dollars  monthly  rental  and  that  over  a  third  of  the  total  were  paying 
fifteen  dollars,  and  a  considerable  number  only  ten  dollars.  Such  a 
rental  in  New  York  city  means  a  three  or  four-room  tenement  in  the 
cheapest  quarter  of  Manhattan  or  Brooklyn,  according  to  Strayer 
and  Thorndike. 

While  these  conditions  refer  to  New  York  City  primarily,  there  is 
no  reason  to  think  that  they  do  not  offer  a  substantially  true  picture 
of  conditions  as  they  exist  in  most  of  our  American  cities  of  consider- 
able size,  and  they  are  probably  to  an  extent  true  of  many  small  com- 
munities, particularly  where  there  is  a  considerable  proportion  of 
families  of  foreign  birth  or  extraction. 

Strayer,  in  a  study  of  the  economic  status  of  high  school  pupils,2 
gives  the  following  table,  showing  the  vocation  of  the  parents  of  these 
pupils: 

Students  whose  fathers  are  professional  men 10% 

Students  whose  fathers  operate  a  farm  with  over  $5,000 21%. 

Students  whose  fathers  operate  a  farm  with  less  than  $5,000 ....  15%  « 
Students  whose  fathers  make  more  than  $2,000  a  year  in  trade 

or  commerce i°%. 

Students  whose  fathers  make  between  $1,000  and  $2,000  in  trade 

or  commerce 14% 

Students  whose  fathers  are  skilled  artisans  making  $1,500  a  year 

or  more 14% 

Students  whose  fathers  are  unskilled  laborers 16% 

"These  figures,"  says  the  writer,  "indicate  the  thoroughly  demo- 
cratic character  of  our  public  high  schools.  In  any  community  one 
may  expect  to  find  children  from  the  families  of  professional  people 
along  with  the  children  of  day  laborers." 

1  Quoted  from  Strayer  and  Thorndike,  Educational  Administration,  pp.  69, 
70  (1913). 

2  Report  of  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education  for  iqio,  Vol.  II.,  p.  xxv. 


38  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

The  ability  of  a  pupil  as  shown  by  his  record  in  the  elementary 
school  is  a  factor  of  considerable  importance  in  determining 
whether  he  shall  go  on  to  the  high  school.  The  very  poorest 
pupils  are  eliminated  before  they  finish  the  grammar  grades. 
The  intellectually  unfit  are  not  as  likely  to  enter  the  high  school 
as  are  those  of  better  ability.  Yet  this  elimination  through  lack 
of  ability  is  not  thoroughgoing,  and  many  pupils  start  out  on 
a  high  school  course  who  are  incapable  of  doing  work  of  aca- 
demic nature. 

If  the  pupil  regards  a  high  school  course  as  definitely  con- 
nected with  his  future  career  he  is  more  likely  to  enter  and  to 
remain  than  if  he  goes  with  no  very  definite  object  in  view. 
However,  a  large  number  of  children  annually  enter  our  high 
schools  with  no  clear  notion  of  why  they  are  continuing  their 
education;  generally  the  parents  of  these  children  are  likewise 
confused  in  their  notions  as  to  what  the  high  school  is  likely  to 
do  for  the  pupil.  It  is  desirable  as  soon  as  possible  that  these 
pupils  and  their  parents  come  to  some  conclusion  as  to  what  is 
to  be  definitely  gained  through  a  high  school  course  of  study. 

The  high  school  teacher  should  keep  all  of  these  facts  in  mind 
in  dealing  with  his  pupils.  He  should  remember  that  the  boys 
and  girls  in  his  classes  often  come  with  no  background  of  culture 
or  refinement,  that  sometimes  the  parents  are  very  poor  and 
many  times  illiterate,  that  home  conditions  of  study  are  seldom 
ideal,  and  that  they  are  often  very  bad.  He  should  also  remem- 
ber that  many  of  his  pupils  have  no  great  ability,  that  a  con- 
siderable number  come  to  the  high  school  for  no  definite  reason, 
and  that  these  generally  do  not  have  a  strong  motive  to  do  good 
work.  If  he  keeps  these  facts  in  mind  he  will  not  expect  too 
much  at  the  outset;  he  will  attempt  in  striving  to  stimulate  his 
pupils  to  do  better  work  to  find  out  something  about  their  home 
conditions,  their  general  abilities,  and  the  reasons  that  they  have 
for  coming  to  the  school  and  for  selecting  a  certain  course  of 
study.    This  individual  inquiry  is  necessary  if  the  teacher  hopes 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  PUPIL  39 

to  be  a  guide  and  a  help  to  his  pupils  in  anything  more  than  an 
external  and  a  formal  way. 

The  Elimination  of  High  School  Pupils  is  Marked. — 
According  to  one  extensive  investigation,  out  of  one  hundred 
pupils  entering  the  first  primary  grade  twenty-seven  survive 
until  the  first  high  school  grade,  seventeen  until  the  second, 
twelve  until  the  third,  and  eight  until  the  fourth.1  While  the 
proportion  of  pupils  entering  and  graduating  from  the  high 
school  varies  widely  in  different  localities  the  above  cited  in- 
vestigation gives  a  fair  indication  of  the  rate  at  which  pupils 
dropped  out  of  the  high  school  a  decade  ago.  During  the  last 
few  years  conditions  have  improved  somewhat,  but  elimination 
is  still  marked.  The  reasons  for  such  elimination  are  various. 
One  has  already  been  mentioned,  a  lack  of  a  definite  purpose  on 
entering  high  school.  Among  other  causes  that  are  important 
is  age  at  entrance,  over-age  pupils  tending  to  leave  school  more 
often  than  normal  age  or  under-age  pupils.  Ability,  industry  and 
success  in  school  work  are  also  deciding  factors.  School  marks 
during  the  first  few  months  give  a  strong  indication  as  to  whether 
the  pupil  is  likely  to  remain  in  school.  The  pupils  that  receive 
high  grades  will  probably  continue  to  the  end  of  the  course,  those 
who  receive  grades  of  fifty  or  under  are  likely  to  drop  out  before 
the  end  of  the  year.  Low  grades  are  closely  correlated  with  early 
elimination  from  the  high  school  for  two  reasons.  In  the  first 
place,  low  grades  generally  indicate  poor  ability,  and  pupils  of 
poor  ability  do  not  as  a  rule  remain  long  at  intellectual  tasks. 
In  the  second  place,  lack  of  initial  success  often  tends  to  dis- 
courage the  pupil,  and  he  generally  takes  the  first  opportunity 
to  leave  school  unless  he  has  some  strong  motive  for  desiring  to 
complete  the  course,  or  is  compelled  by  his  parents  to  stay. 

It  is  generally  held  by  those  interested  in  public  education 
that  it  is  desirable  to  keep  most  pupils  who  enter  high  school  in 
the  school  as  long  as  possible.    The  ideal  is  to  make  the  school 

1 E.  L.  Thorndike,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  No.  4  (1907). 


40  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

serve  all  classes  and  minister  to  all  degrees  and  kinds  of  ability 
and  not  to  perform  the  function  of  selecting  the  best  for  survival, 
and  eliminating  as  rapidly  as  possible  those  who  are  not  up  to 
the  standard.  The  American  high  school  teacher  must  accept 
this  aim,  and  not  proceed  on  the  theory  that  the  high  school  Is 
primarily  an  agency  for  the  elimination  of  the  unfit.  The  teacher 
must  therefore  do  all  in  his  power  to  give  the  pupils  a  genuine 
motive  for  doing  their  work,  and  wishing  to  complete  the  course; 
he  must  consider  it  his  duty  to  work  with  pupils  of  poor  ability  in 
order  to  bring  them  up  to  a  passing  standard;  he  must  make  the 
work  of  the  first  few  weeks  and  months  of  such  a  nature  that 
those  of  average  ability  and  reasonable  industry  can  do  it. 
Above  all,  he  never  should  pride  himself  on  the  fact  that  a  large 
number  of  his  pupils  have  failed  to  pass  an  examination,  or  have 
fallen  below  grade  in  a  course.  This  does  not  mean  that  he  shall 
discard  standards,  or  make  his  work  easy  in  the  wrong  sense  of 
the  term;  but  it  does  mean  that  he  must  strive  in  every  legitimate 
way  to  adapt  his  instruction  to  the  capacities  and  interests  of  his 
pupils. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHER 

The  American  High  School  Teacher  Does  not  Conform 
to  any  One  Type. — Who  teach  our  boys  and  girls  in  our  high 
schools?  This  question  can  be  answered  in  only  a  most  general 
way,  because  there  is  no  one  class  or  type  of  high  school  teachers. 
They  vary  in  social  position,  general  education,  special  prepara- 
tion, and  in  nationality.  As  a  rule  they  come  from  families  of 
moderate  means,  families  of  the  better  middle  class.  The  salaries 
they  receive  vary  widely,  ranging  from  a  minimum  of  four  or  five 
hundred  dollars  a  year  to  a  maximum  of  several  thousand.  In 
preparation  there  is  a  similar  lack  of  uniformity,  some  high 
school  teachers  having  had  but  one  or  two  years'  education  be- 
yond the  elementary  school,  and  others  having  had  eight,  nine  or 
even  ten  years.  Although  there  is  no  typical  high  school  teacher, 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  "average"  high  school  teacher,  using  the 
term  average  in  the  sense  of  the  teacher  most  frequently  found, 
is  a  young  man  or  woman  (more  often  a  woman)  with  six,  seven 
or  eight  years  of  preparation  beyond  the  grades  and  receiving  a 
salary  of  from  six  hundred  to  a  thousand  dollars  annually. 
These  facts  will  be  discussed  more  in  detail  hi"  the  following 
pages. 

The  Preparation  of  the  American  High  School  Teacher  is 
Inadequate. — Measured  by  the  standards  of  other  professions 
the  amount  of  special  preparation  that  the  American  high 
school  teacher  receives  for  his  work  is  as  a  rule  inadequate. 
Considered  in  the  light  of  the  training  that  the  European  teacher 
obtains  it  is  slight.    Judged  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  im- 

41 


42  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

portance  of  the  teaching  profession  to  the  nation  it  is  far  from 
ideal. 

(a)  The  European  secondary  school  teacher  is  trained  for  a  life 
profession. — In  Europe  the  teacher  in  the  secondary  school  is  as 
thoroughly  prepared  for  his  work  as  are  the  lawyer,  the  doctor, 
the  clergyman,  and  the  army  officer  for  their  callings.  There 
is  no  short  cut  to  becoming  a  teacher,  hence  teaching  is  never 
thought  of  as  a  make-shift  or  as  a  temporary  occupation,  as  is 
too  often  the  case  in  America. 

The  Oberlehrer  (regular  teacher)  in  the  boys'  high  schools  in 
Germany  must  have  completed  his  elementary  and  secondary 
education,  which  he  generally  does  at  about  his  eighteenth 
year,  must  have  spent  at  least  three  full  years  in  a  university, 
must  have  passed  a  rigorous  state  examination  and  then  must 
spend  two  additional  years  in  special  study  and  practice  teaching 
before  he  becomes  a  qualified  teacher.  A  similar  preparation  for 
an  American  high  school  teacher  would  require  a  college  course 
followed  by  several  years  of  graduate  study,  and  accompanied  or 
followed  by  a  year  of  practice  teaching  in  a  standard  high  school 
under  careful  supervision. 

In  France  the  preparation  required  for  the  teachers  of  boys  in 
the  lycees  and  communal  colleges  (the  secondary  schools  of  that 
country)  is  no  less  rigorous  than  that  of  Germany.  The  teachers 
(professeurs)  in  the  lycees  must  have  received  the  degree  of 
agrege,  which  is  given  only  after  the  completion  of  an  elementary 
and  secondary  course  of  study  covering  twelve  years,  followed 
by  several  years  of  study  in  preparation  for  a  competitive  exam- 
ination for  admission  to  a  higher  normal  school,  and  by  a  course 
of  three  or  four  years  in  this  school,  at  the  end  of  which  is  a 
rigorous  competitive  examination  for  the  agrege  degree.  "The 
agregation  is  a  title,  a  kind  of  diploma,  which  not  only  stands  for 
a  high  degree  of  scholarship,  but  also  indicates  that  the  holder  is 
one  of  the  ten  or  dozen  best  men  in  his  subject  in  France  that 
year,  as  proved  by  the  fact  that  he  has  come  out  toward  the 


THE   HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHER  43 

head  of  a  list  in  a  national  competitive  examination."  *  The 
teachers  in  the  communal  colleges  are  not  required  to  pass  the 
competitive  examination,  though  in  other  respects  their  training 
is  the  same. 

From  this  it  may  be  seen  that  the  German  or  French  secondary 
school  teacher  must  be  a  person  of  superior  ability,  since  the 
strict  and  extended  course  of  study  and  the  rigorous  examina- 
tions eliminate  the  weak;  he  must  be  a  specialist  in  his  subject 
with  a  knowledge  as  extensive  and  exact  as  that  demanded  of 
the  average  college  professor  in  America;  he  must  know  well  the 
theory  and  the  art  of  teaching,  and  finally  he  must  have  demon- 
strated his  ability  as  a  teacher  in  actual  practice.  He  is  never 
called  upon  to  teach  anything  but  his  " subject;"  the  "exigencies 
of  the  program"  do  not  determine  his  work,  as  too  often  is  the 
case  with  the  American  teacher;  he  is  not  called  upon  to  do 
independent  teaching  until  he  has  demonstrated  his  ability  to 
do  so;  he  is  familiar  with  the  best  theories  and  the  best  methods 
of  instruction  in  his  own  field,  and  he  has  a  professional  attitude 
and  professional  ideals.  In  comparison  with  such  preparation, 
that  of  our  own  high  school  teachers  is  in  striking  contrast. 

(b)  The  American  high  school  teacher  receives  but  a  small 
amount  of  special  preparation  for  his  work. — As  has  already  been 
said  the  American  high  school  teacher  is  inadequately  prepared 
for  his  work.  He  sometimes  lacks  in  general  academic  training; 
he  frequently  knows  little  about  the  theory  and  practice  of 
teaching,  and  he  has  had  as  a  rule  no  supervised  experience  in 
teaching  before  entering  upon  his  duties.  He  learns  for  the 
most  part  the  skill  of  his  art  by  the  trial  and  error  method,  and 
too  frequently  it  is  blind  trial  and  error,  in  which  he  is  uncon- 
scious of  his  mistakes,  or  if  conscious  of  them  does  not  know  how 
to  correct  them.  Occasionally  he  receives  suggestions  from  his 
principal  or  other  supervising  authorities,  but  if  he  can  keep 

1  Quoted  from  F.  E.  Farrington,  Monroe's  Principles  of  Secondary  Educa- 
tion, p.  89  (1914). 


44  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

reasonably  good  order  he  is  generally  left  to  a  large  extent  to  his 
own  devices.  As  a  result  of  this  inadequate  preparation  there  is 
as  yet  scarcely  a  profession  of  secondary  teaching  in  America. 
The  minimum  requirements  are  few,  and  men  and  women  of 
mediocre  ability,  little  knowledge,  and  no  definite  aims  or 
ambitions  find  it  possible  to  secure  positions,  at  least  in  the 
smaller  and  weaker  high  schools.  The  situation,  while  at  present 
not  satisfactory,  is  nevertheless  encouraging  in  many  respects. 
More  and  more  an  adequate  training  for  high  school  teachers  is 
being  recognized  as  desirable,  and  standards  of  local  communi- 
ties and  of  states  are  being  fixed  and  made  more  exacting. 

The  preparation  usually  demanded  in  our  better  private 
and  public  secondary  schools  is  graduation  from  a  college  of 
good  standing.  As  a  rule  the  demand  is  not  much  more  specific. 
High  specialization  in  the  subject  taught  is  not  always  insisted 
on.  Indeed  it  is  frequently  the  custom  to  assign  a  teacher  to 
any  subject  in  the  curriculum  on  the  theory  that  the  teacher 
can  keep  ahead  of  the  class.  Instances  are  by  no  means  uncom- 
mon of  giving  a  teacher  a  subject  that  he  has  never  taken  in 
college,  possibly  never  taken  in  the  high  school.  Not  only  is 
specialization  in  subject-matter  not  always  insisted  on,  but 
knowledge  of  the  theoretical  and  practical  phases  of  education 
is  often  considered  unimportant.  It  is  not  unusual  that  a 
student  fresh  from  college  is  engaged  to  teach  although  he  has 
never  taken  a  course  in  education  and  knows  nothing  about 
the  high  school,  its  methods,  aims  and  present  tendencies. 
High  school  teachers  at  times  not  only  have  little  professional 
knowledge  of  their  field,  but  sometimes  hold  in  contempt  such 
knowledge.  Conditions  in  these  respects  are,  however,  def- 
initely improving. 

This  Lack  of  Preparation  Due  to  Various  Causes. — 
One  element  in  the  situation  is  that  for  many  years  no  special 
schools  were  provided  for  training  the  secondary  teacher,  on  the 
assumption  that  a  college  degree  was  a  sufficient  warrant  for 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHER  45 

entering  the  field  of  high  school  instruction.  For  a  long  time 
our  higher  institutions  of  learning  never  took  up  the  matter  of 
training  teachers  seriously.  Indeed  at  the  present  time,  it  is 
not  infrequently  held  that  all  a  teacher  needs  to  know  is  his 
subject;  it  is  likewise  claimed  that  "teachers  are  born  and  not 
made;"  and  not  a  few  assert  that  teaching  is  an  art  that  cannot 
be  taught. 

The  fallacies  contained  in  these  statements  are  too  obvious  to  re- 
quire extended  comment.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  experience  that 
teachers  with  considerable  familiarity  with  their  subject  and  some- 
times with  a  scholarly  knowledge  of  a  particular  field  may  fail  to 
impart  that  knowledge  in  a  satisfactory  manner  to  their  pupils.  It 
is  evident  that  native  ability  is  an  important  asset  in  teaching,  but 
so  it  is  in  any  profession  or  calling  in  life.  We  are  in  part  born,  but 
we  must  likewise  be  made,  whether  we  are  lawyers,  doctors,  business 
men,  or  teachers.  To  hold  that  teaching  as  an  art  cannot  be  taught 
is  to  place  it  in  a  category  by  itself.  To  assert  that  a  teacher  can 
learn  only  by  teaching  is  on  the  same  plane  as  to  assert  that  a  doctor 
can  learn  only  by  practicing  medicine,  or  a  lawyer  learn  only  by 
engaging  in  law.  We  value  practical  experience  in  all  callings  in  life, 
but  in  most  instances  we  have  found  it  the  part  of  wisdom  to  prepare 
in  advance  as  far  as  possible  for  such  experience,  and  to  instruct  the 
novice,  rather  than  to  permit  him  to  blunder  along  greatly  to  his 
own  injury  and  that  of  the  community.  The  fact  that  teachers  on 
the  average  remain  in  their  vocation  but  a  relatively  brief  time  as 
compared  with  men  and  women  in  other  professions  makes  it  all  the 
more  imperative  that  the  preliminary  period  of  learning  be  reduced 
to  a  minimum  and  that  the  teacher  acquire  in  advance  of  actual  teach- 
ing adequate  knowledge  of  methods,  to  prevent  him  from  unnecessary 
blunders  at  the  expense  of  his  pupils. 

While  a  lack  of  preparation  of  secondary  teachers  is  partly 
the  fault  of  the  colleges  they  are  not  entirely  to  blame.  Superin- 
tendents, principals,  and  boards  of  education  have  not  suffi- 
ciently insisted  on  adequate  training  either  in  subject-matter 
or  in  professional  knowledge  and  skill.    In  so  far  as  the  appoint- 


46  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

ing  power  is  in  the  hands  of  a  school  committee,  composed  for 
the  most  part  of  men  and  women  without  professional  knowl- 
edge of  the  field  of  education,  little  improvement  in  this  respect 
can  be  expected.  However,  in  so  far  as  the  appointing  power  is 
possessed  by  the  supervising  authorities,  and  in  so  far  as  they 
are  in  accord  with  the  highest  ideals  of  the  teaching  profession, 
the  quality  of  the  teacher  both  in  knowledge  and  in  skill  is  likely 
to  be  raised.  It  is  an  encouraging  sign  of  the  times  that  the 
selection  of  the  teaching  staff  is  being  given  over  more  and  more 
to  superintendent  and  principals,  and  that  among  this  body  of 
men  and  women  there  is  a  growing  conviction  of  the  necessity 
of  a  thorough  preparation  of  the  high  school  teacher,  as  well  as 
of  the  primary  and  grammar  school  teacher. 

Existing  Agencies  for  Training  Secondary  Teachers. — 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  many  secondary  teachers  have 
no  distinct  preparation  for  their  work  the  proportion  of  untrained 
teachers  is  each  year  growing  less.  This  is  due  in  part  to  the 
fact  already  referred  to,  that  states,  cities  and  even  smaller 
communities  are  setting  up  higher  standards  of  teaching  pro- 
ficiency, and  in  part  to  the  circumstance  that  existing  agencies 
for  adequately  preparing  secondary  teachers  are  rapidly  grow- 
ing in  number  and  increasing  in  efficiency.  In  some  instances 
we  find  normal  schools  developing  into  normal  colleges  by  the 
extension  of  their  professional  and  academic  work.  Though 
the  chief  function  of  these  schools  is  to  train  elementary  teachers, 
the  better  schools  by  expanding  their  course  to  cover  a  period 
of  four  years  beyond  the  secondary  school  are  enabled  to  give 
training  to  high  school  teachers.  Thus  are  being  developed 
higher  normal  schools,  the  most  notable  example  of  which  is 
Teachers  College  of  Columbia  University,  which  has  now  be- 
come a  graduate  school  for  the  training  of  teachers,  supervisors 
and  educational  experts,  and  which  for  a  large  proportion  of 
its  work  requires  as  a  prerequisite  college  graduation. 

During  the  last  decade  a  great  growth  has  been  witnessed  in 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHER  47 

our  colleges  and  universities  in  the  organization  and  develop- 
ment of  departments  of  education,  and  in  many  instances  these 
departments  have  grown  into  schools  and  colleges  of  education. 
In  these  institutions  the  training  of  the  high  school  teacher  is 
particularly  emphasized,  as  is  also  the  preparation  of  others 
for  work  in  the  field  of  education.  A  notable  example  of  a 
highly  organized  and  equipped  school  of  education  is  found  at 
the  University  of  Chicago.  Many  of  the  important  State 
Universities,  as  well  as  a  considerable  number  of  our  larger 
endowed  institutions  of  higher  learning  are  also  developing  de- 
partments and  schools  of  education  that  are  seriously  under- 
taking the  problem  of  the  adequate  equipment  of  the  teacher 
for  his  work. 

In  the  various  colleges  and  schools  of  education  that  now  exist  in 
America  the  training  of  teachers  to  teach  through  actual  experience 
in  conducting  classes  under  supervision  occupies  an  important  place. 
There  are  two  general  methods  in  vogue.  The  older  method  is  to 
give  the  student-teacher  his  experience  by  assigning  him  to  a  local 
high  school  to  teach  a  certain  number  of  periods  a  week  under  the 
direction  of  a  critic  teacher.  More  recently  there  have  been  developed 
in  connection  with  schools  and  colleges  of  education  in  our  universi- 
ties, "practice"  or  "model"  high  schools  under  the  control  of  the 
university  authorities.  To  classes  in  these  schools,  student-teachers 
are  assigned  to  give  instruction  under  competent  supervision. 

Both  of  these  methods  accomplish  much  in  the  preparation  of  the 
novice;  each  has  certain  merits  of  its  own,  and  each  has  certain  de- 
fects. The  student-teacher  who  receives  practice  in  a  local  high  school 
is  likely  to  encounter  the  problems  of  teaching  as  they  exist  somewhat 
more  directly  and  in  a  more  typical  manner  than  the  student-teacher 
who  is  trained  in  the  model  high  school  controlled  by  the  university. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  the  high  school  is  directly  under  the  control 
of  the  university,  it  may  be  used  more  definitely  as  a  training  school 
for  prospective  teachers  than  can  the  high  school  that  is  independent 
of  the  university  and  whose  purpose  can  be  only  in  a  very  limited 
degree  the  training  of  teachers. 


48  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

One  of  the  best  examples  of  the  plan  for  training  teachers  through 
cooperation  of  the  city  high  schools  with  a  higher  institution  of  learn- 
ing is  to  be  found  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island.  For  many  years 
graduate  students  in  the  department  of  education  at  Brown  University 
have  been  permitted  to  teach  in  the  high  schools  of  the  city  under 
joint  supervision  by  the  university  authorities  and  by  expert  teachers 
in  the  high  schools,  who  act  as  critics.  The  results  have  been 
uniformly  excellent.  Plans  similar  to  this  are  in  operation  in  a  con- 
siderable number  of  our  Eastern  colleges  and  universities  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  On  the  other  hand  the  higher  institutions  of  the  Middle- 
West  favor  the  plan  of  student  training  through  a  model  school.  In 
some  instances  the  organization  of  the  model  school  is  worked  out 
with  a  large  amount  of  detail  and  elaboration,  as  is  the  case  at  the 
University  of  Chicago. 

The  Salary  of  the  High  School  Teacher  is  Comparatively 
Small. — Judged  by  the  standards  of  all  other  professions  ex- 
cept the  ministry  the  salary  of  the  high  school  teacher  is  small. 
As  has  already  been  pointed  out  the  range  is  wide,  some  teachers 
receiving  but  a  few  hundred  dollars,  while  others  obtain  several 
thousand.  These  are  extreme  cases,  however.  In  the  case  of 
men  "if  one  were  compelled  to  choose  one  amount  as  the  most 
likely  to  be  received  by  a  teacher  or  principal  .  .  .  the  amount 
would  be  $700.  Their  median  salary  is  $900;  that  is,  of  men 
engaged  in  public  high  school  work  there  are  as  many  who  re- 
ceive less  than  $900  as  there  are  receiving  more  than  $900."  In 
the  case  of  women,  .  .  .  "the  median  salary  is  $650."  l 

These  amounts  represent  high  schools  in  general  and  the 
salaries  paid  some  years  ago.  Today  conditions  are  somewhat 
better.  Further,  these  statistics  refer  to  teachers  of  various 
kinds  of  equipment  and  with  widely  different  capacities.  In  a 
comparison  made  by  Strayer  2  of  thirty  cities,  he  found  that 

1  Quoted  from  E.  L.  Thorndike  in  Strayer  and  Thorndike,  op.  cit. 

2  City  School  Expenditures,  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University, 
Contributions  to  Education,  No.  5  (1905). 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHER  49 

the  lowest  average  salary  of  high  school  teachers  reported  by 
any  city  was  $558  and  the  highest  was  $1,332.80.  In  the  first 
of  these  cities  the  average  daily  wage  of  bricklayers  was  $3.75 
and  of  carpenters  S3. 00,  and  in  the  second  the  corresponding 
figures  were  $4.65  and  $3.50.  From  this  it  can  be  seen,  assum- 
ing that  the  bricklayers  and  carpenters  had  reasonably  con- 
tinuous employment  throughout  the  year,  that  their  economic 
status  would  be  at  least  equal  to  that  of  the  average  high  school 
teacher  in  these  two  communities.  In  all  of  these  cities  the 
average  daily  wage  received  by  these  skilled  workmen  was 
not  markedly  inferior  to  that  received  by  high  school  teachers. 
In  some  instances  a  skilled  workman  with  steady  employment 
would  on  the  average  receive  a  greater  income  during  the  year 
than  the  average  high  school  teacher.1 

While  the  money  rewards  of  the  high  school  teacher  can  be 
seen  from  the  above  statement  to  be  inadequate  in  many  ways, 
it  should  be  remembered  that  the  well-equipped  and  capable 
teacher  is  likely  to  receive  a  compensation  considerably  above 
the  sum  that  these  figures  indicate.  During  the  first  years  of 
his  professional  career  the  high  school  teacher  will  on  the  aver- 
age receive  more  money  than  will  the  young  doctor  or  lawyer, 
and  while  the  ultimate  money  rewards  are  not  so  great  for  the 
successful  high  school  instructor  as  they  are  for  the  successful 
physician  or  attorney  they  are  sufficient  for  reasonable  needs. 
There  are,  too,  compensations  other  than  money  that  make  the 
teaching  profession  desirable.  It  affords  opportunities  for 
genuine  service,  it  is  attended  by  dignity  and  reasonable  leisure. 
But  to  obtain  the  highest  rewards  demands  an  adequate  prep- 
aration. The  college  graduate  who  enters  upon  high  school 
teaching  as  the  first  thing  at  hand,  as  a  temporary  expedient 
or  a  make-shift,  who  is  not  willing  to  give  years  of  thought  and 

1  Since  this  investigation  was  made  the  average  wage  of  skilled  and  un- 
skilled labor  has  increased  materially,  while  teachers'  salaries  have  advanced, 
but  not  in  the  same  proportion. 


50  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

preparation  for  a  serious  calling  in  life,  is  not  likely  to  find  either 
pleasure  or  profit  in  teaching.  Not  only  does  such  a  teacher 
suffer  because  of  his  unstable  purpose  and  his  insufficient  prep- 
aration, but  the  community  as  a  whole  suffers,  and  above  all 
those  who  can  least  afford  it  suffer  the  most, — the  boys  and 
girls  intrusted  to  his  care. 

The  Success  of  the  High  School  Teacher  Depends  on 
Various  Factors. — What  are  the  conditions  that  contribute 
principally  to  success  in  high  school  teaching?  This  is  a  ques- 
tion of  great  interest  to  the  prospective  teacher  and  to  the  school 
system.  While  it  cannot  be  answered  in  a  few  words,  it  may  be 
said  in  general  that  there  is  no  one  cause,  or  even  a  relatively 
few  causes  that  determine  success  completely.  However,  there 
are  a  number  of  factors  that  clearly  are  of  great  significance. 
The  most  important  of  these  will  be  discussed  in  the  next  few 
pages.  Before  we  can  adequately  answer  the  question,  however, 
we  must  find  some  method  of  measuring  teaching  efficiency. 

(a)  Success  as  measured  by  salary  received. — Thorndike  1  has 
used  the  salaries  received  by  teachers  in  private  schools  in  the 
same  city  under  free  competition  as  to  some  extent  a  measure  of 
success  in  teaching,  and  from  the  data  studied  by  him  he  con- 
cludes that  length  of  experience  is  not  an  important  factor  after 
the  first  few  years.  He  says,  "  So  far  as  the  data  go,  they  sup- 
port the  hypothesis  that  the  full  effect  of  experience  in  teaching 
on  the  efficiency  in  the  work  of  a  private  secondary  school  is 
reached  in  three  years."  He  finds,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
salaries  in  public  high  schools  show  a  relatively  uniform  increase 
over  a  period  of  twenty-five  years,  but  he  attributes  the  increase 
after  the  first  few  years  to  the  practice  of  cities  of  paying  teachers 
higher  salaries  in  terms  of  service  rather  than  on  a  basis  of  actual 
merit.  If  it  is  true  that  experience  in  teaching  after  the  initial 
years  of  service  does  not  tend  to  increase  teaching  efficiency, 
this  must  be  due  to  some  adverse  cause.  The  most  probable 
1  Bulletin  of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  No.  4  (1909). 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHER  5 1 

reason  for  lack  of  continued  improvement  is  to  be  found  in  the 
teacher  himself.  If  he  is  eager  to  advance,  if  he  has  an  open 
mind,  if  he  has  the  spirit  of  an  inquirer  and  learner,  he  should 
grow  indefinitely  in  teaching  ability,  year  by  year. 

Thorndike  further  concludes  by  studying  the  reports  from 
the  public  high  schools  of  Ohio,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin  that 
preparation  is  a  factor  of  weight  in  determining  success.  Both 
men  and  women  with  a  superior  preparation  are  not  only  paid 
more  at  the  start  but  show  large  differences  after  years  of  ex- 
perience over  those  poorly  equipped.  From  this  it  may  be  con- 
cluded that  while  experience  alone  is  not  a  very  important  ele- 
ment in  success  in  teaching  after  the  first  few  years,  experience 
combined  with  an  adequate  preparation  is  a  cause  of  consider- 
able potency.  "It  is  evident  that  school  authorities  reward 
the  kind  of  a  man  or  woman  who  has  secured  a  thorough  educa- 
tion," he  believes. 

Thorndike  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  chief  factors  in  achieving 
success  are  native  ability,  and  quality  of  education.  A  person 
to  be  a  good  teacher  must  have  general  qualities  of  intellectual 
and  moral  excellence  and  certain  specific  aptitudes  that  particu- 
larly fit  him  to  be  an  instructor  of  youth,  and  he  must  further 
have  an  education  that  is  of  a  high  grade  of  excellence. 

L.  D.  CofTman  1  in  a  study  of  the  efficiency  of  elementary  and 
of  some  secondary  teachers  on  the  basis  of  salaries  received, 
concludes  that  a  premium  is  placed  upon  advanced  academic 
and  professional  training.  "No  doubt  such  training  selects 
those  who  have  inborn  capacity  to  profit  by  it  the  most,  but 
this  extra  training  is  their  best  means  of  advertising  to  the  world 
their  peculiar  native  strength.'' 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  said  that  not  only  does  there  seem 
to  be  a  relation  between  success  and  training,  but  there  is  an  evident 

1  The  Social  Composition  of  the  Teaching  Population,  Teachers  College, 
Columbia  University,  Contributions  to  Education,  No.  41  (191 1). 


52  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

relation  between  college  grades  and  subsequent  teaching  ability. 
The  college  record  of  a  student,  both  in  general  academic  subjects  and 
in  subjects  particularly  related  to  the  profession  of  teaching,  are  a 
reasonable  indication  of  what  his  success  as  a  teacher  is  likely  to  be. 
These  grades  throw  some  light  on  whether  he  is  a  person  of  superior, 
medium,  or  inferior  ability  by  nature,  and  also  upon  the  question  of 
how  far  he  has  profited  by  his  college  course.  They  are  scanned  with 
a  good  deal  of  care  by  those  who  are  asked  to  recommend  a  college 
graduate  for  a  position  in  a  public  or  private  secondary  school,  and 
with  a  considerable  degree  of  justice. 

(b)  Success  as  measured  by  the  judgment  of  supervising  of- 
ficers.— A  number  of  attempts  have  been  made  to  determine 
the  qualities  of  merit  that  enter  into  successful  teaching  by  using 
the  judgment  of  superintendents,  principals  and  other  super- 
vising officers  in  regard  to  the  abilities  of  the  teachers  under 
their  direction.  The  first  study  made  of  high  school  teachers 
from  this  point  of  view  was  undertaken  by  A.  C.  Boyce.1  Super- 
intendents and  principals  in  thirty-eight  different  towns  and 
cities,  mostly  in  the  North  Central  and  Middle  Atlantic  States 
were  asked  to  rate  their  high  school  teachers  in  order,  accord- 
ing to  general  excellence,  placing  the  best  teacher  first,  the 
next  second,  and  so  on  to  the  poorest,  and  they  were  further 
asked  to  rank  them  according  to  certain  specific  qualities  such 
as  instructional  skill,  general  appearance,  health,  disciplinary 
ability,  success  with  pupils,  adaptability,  sympathy  and  a  sense 
of  humor.  The  amount  of  preparation  and  experience  of  each 
teacher  was  also  recorded,  and  the  subjects  which  were  taught 
by  the  various  teachers.  The  chief  conclusions  arrived  at  were\ 
that  the  specific  qualities  of  merit  in  a  high  school  teacher  that  \ 
contribute  the  most  toward  his  success  are  instructional  skill,  I 
securing  results,  stimulation  of  individuals,  intellectual  capacity,  / 
and  ability  to  maintain  discipline.    Factors  of  relatively  little/ 

-  "  Qualities  of  Merit  in  Secondary  School  Teachers,  Journal  of  Educational 
Psychology,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  144-157  (1912). 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHER  53 

importance  were  general  appearance  and  health.  A  later  study  1 
by  the  same  investigator  confirmed  in  general  these  earlier 
results. 

It  should  be  kept  in  mind  that  most  of  the  qualities  here  listed  are 
relatively  complex.  For  example,  instructional  skill  is  composed  of 
various  elements.  Boyce  lists  them  under  the  technique  of  teaching 
as  follows: — Definiteness  and  clearness  of  aim,  skill  in  habit  forma- 
tion, skill  in  stimulating  thought,  skill  in  teaching  how  to  study,  skill 
in  questioning,  choice  of  subject-matter,  organization  of  subject- 
matter,  skill  and  care  in  assignment,  skill  in  motivating  work,  atten- 
tion to  individual  needs.  Likewise  discipline  is  a  matter  that  has 
many  different  aspects.  The  immediately  following  chapters  will 
take  up  in  detail  the  subject  of  discipline,  and  a  number  of  subsequent 
chapters  will  be  devoted  to  the  question  of  the  technique  of  teaching. 

Boyce  further  concluded  that  the  best  teachers  are  found  in 
the  oldest  subjects,  Latin  and  mathematics.  He  finds  evidence 
that  experience,  while  contributing  to  success  in  teaching,  is 
not  so  important  a  factor  as  has  often  been  supposed,  and  that 
advanced  work  in  college  or  university  and  professional  train- 
ing are  definitely  related  to  success  in  high  school  teaching. 

The  term  "personality"  is  often  vaguely  used  to  indicate  a  quality 
highly  essential  to  the  success  of  the  teacher.  F.  L.  Clapp  2  attempted 
to  give  this  term  a  more  specific  meaning  by  securing  from  one  hun- 
dred experienced  superintendents  and  principals  lists  of  ten  specific 
qualities  which  entered  into  the  personality  of  the  teacher.  These 
qualities,  in  the  order  of  their  importance,  were  found  to  be, — address, 
personal  appearance,  optimism,  reserve,  enthusiasm,  fairness,  sin- 
cerity, sympathy,  vitality,  scholarship. 

The  negative  side  of  the  question  of  what  constitutes  a  suc- 
cessful high  school  teacher  has  been  worked  out  by  several  in- 

1  See  Fourteenth  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Education, 
part  II.,  pp.  66-67  (1915)- 

2  See  Bagley,  School  Discipline,  pp.  30-35  (1915). 


54  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

vestigators  by  securing  data  from  superintendents  and  prin- 
cipals, as  to  the  causes  of  failure  of  members  of  the  teaching 
staff.  These  in  general  point  to  conclusions  similar  to  those 
obtained  from  approaching  the  question  of  excellence  from  the 
positive  side,  and  show  the  great  importance  of  discipline,  in- 
structional skill,  and  a  strong  personality. 

Cleda  Moses  l  places  poor  instruction  as  the  chief  cause  of  failure 
among  secondary  teachers.  She  finds  further  that  a  weak  personality 
coupled  with  poor  discipline  were  important  elements  contributing 
to  failure.  Lack  of  sympathy,  nervousness,  deficiency  in  social  quali- 
ties and  deceitfulness  were  also  causes. 

Henry  Buellesfield  2  gives  the  chief  causes  of  failure  among  teachers 
of  all  grades  in  the  order  of  their  importance  as  follows: — Weakness 
in  discipline,  lack  of  judgment,  deficiency  of  scholarship,  poor  instruc- 
tional methods,  insufficiency  of  daily  preparation,  lack  of  industry, 
lack  of  sympathy,  nervousness  and  deficiency  in  social  qualities.  A 
number  of  such  factors  as  unprofessional  attitudes,  disloyalty,  de- 
ceit, personal  immorality  and  the  like  when  grouped  together  indicate 
that  moral  attitudes  and  practices  are  to  be  considered  as  playing  a 
role  in  success  or  failure.  The  fact  that  no  more  teachers  failed  for 
these  reasons  indicates  that  in  the  sterling  elements  of  character 
teachers  are  as  a  rule  a  selected  group.  Buellesfield  found  also  that 
initial  experience  was  significant  in  determining  whether  a  teacher 
failed  or  succeeded.  Forty-two  per  cent,  of  the  failures  among  high 
school  teachers  occurred  during  their  first  year  of  service,  and  ninety- 
four  per  cent,  during  the  first  four  years.  It  is  evident  that  these 
first  years  of  service  are  the  critical  years  during  which  the  constitu- 
tionally unfit  and  the  poorly  prepared  teachers  are  eliminated.  Had 
these  unsuccessful  teachers  had  a  year  of  practice  teaching  under 
proper  supervision  it  would  have  been  better  for  them,  their  pupils, 
and  the  community.  Doubtless  some  of  these  then  would  have 
entered  upon  teaching  with  sufficient  preliminary  training  to  have 
succeeded,  while  the  evidently  incapable  would  never  have  secured 
appointments. 

1  School  and  Home  Education,  January,  1914. 

2  Educational  Administration  and  Supervision,  September,  1915. 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHER  55 

Considering  the  teachers  who  failed  in  reference  to  the  subjects 
taught  by  them  Buellesfield  discovered  that  "by  far  the  most  failures 
occur  among  teachers  of  English;  science,  mathematics,  history, 
Latin,  manual  training,  domestic  science,  and  German  follow  in  the 
order  given,  more  than  one-fourth  of  all  the  failures  in  the  high  school 
being  charged  to  English."  This  is  to  be  explained  from  the  fact  that 
there  are  more  teachers  of  English  than  of  other  high  school  subjects; 
that  there  are  peculiar  difficulties  in  instruction  in  English  that  are 
not  found  to  the  same  extent  in  other  subjects,  and  that  a  thorough 
preparation  is  not  demanded  of  English  teachers,  it  being  too  often 
assumed  that  any  college  graduate  can  teach  the  mother  tongue. 

(c)  Success  as  measured  by  the  opinion  of  pupils. — The  success 
of  the  teacher  is  determined  in  no  small  measure  by  the  opinion 
of  his  pupils  in  regard  to  him.  The  teacher  who  is  well  liked  and 
respected  has  better  discipline  and  larger  opportunities  of  ob- 
taining results  than  has  the  teacher  who  is  out  of  sympathy  with 
his  pupils.  W.  F.  Book  *  obtained  statements  from  several 
hundred  high  school  students  as  to  the  kind  of  teacher  that  they 
liked  best.  The  best  and  most  helpful  teachers  were  described 
as  "pleasant,  cheerful,  optimistic,  enthusiastic,  young,  etc." 
These  teachers  were  helpful,  guiding  and  directing  their  pupils; 
they  were  reasonable,  considerate  of  a  pupil's  feelings,  fair,  just, 
patient  and  kind;  never  nervous,  irritable,  over-particular, 
cranky,  sarcastic,  or  thoughtless. 

In  a  recent  study  made  by  Grace  E.  Bird  2  results  similar  to  those 
secured  by  Book  were  obtained.  Miss  Bird  asked  three  hundred  and 
ninety-two  pupils  to  state  the  qualities  that  they  liked  best  in  their 
high  school  teachers.  The  two  hundred  and  fifty-three  boys  replying 
mentioned  most  frequently  in  the  order  named  the  following  quali- 
ties:— Fairness,  kindness,  disciplinary  control,  patience,  humor,  good 

xThe  high  school  teacher  from  the  pupil's  point  of  view.  Ped.  Sent., 
Vol.  XII.,  pp.  239-288  (1905). 

2  This  study  was  made  in  connection  with  the  Seminary  of  Experimental 
Education  at  Brown  University.  See  Pupils'  Estimates  of  Teachers,  Jour- 
nal of  Ed.  Psych.,  Jan.,  1917. 


56  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

temper,  social  ability,  knowledge  of  subject,  clearness  of  explanation 
and  neatness.  The  order  of  preference  for  the  girls  replying  was 
kindness,  disciplinary  control,  patience,  humor,  fairness,  clearness  of 
explanation,  neatness,  good  temper,  and  sociability.  One  of  the 
striking  results  of  the  study  was  the  fact  that  nearly  two-thirds  of 
the  girls  replying  mentioned  kindness  as  a  quality  to  be  found  in  an 
ideal  teacher.  The  boys  did  not  agree  with  any  such  unanimity  in 
regard  to  any  single  quality,  about  one-quarter  of  them  mentioning 
fairness,  and  a  little  over  one-fifth  kindness.  If  kindness,  patience, 
good  temper,  humor  and  sociability  are  combined,  we  find  these 
qualities  mentioned  by  nearly  half  of  the  boys,  and  by  all  of  the  girls, 
clearly  showing  that  the  kind,  social  and  good-natured  teacher  is 
generally  liked.  Those  qualities  that  are  related  to  instructional 
skill — knowledge  of  subject,  clearness  of  explanation,  and  neatness 
are  regarded  as  important  by  both  boys  and  girls,  but  are  mentioned 
more  frequently  by  the  latter,  about  one-sixth  of  the  boys  and  over 
one-half  of  the  girls  referring  to  these  requirements.  On  the  whole 
the  study  shows  a  high  correlation  between  the  judgment  of  boys 
and  girls  as  to  what  constitutes  a  good  teacher.  Expressed  by  the 
Pearson  coefficient  it  is  .8. 

Professional  Attitudes  and  Ideals  are  Important  Factors 
in  the  Success  of  the  Teacher. — No  matter  what  general  and 
special  abilities  the  teacher  possesses,  no  matter  what  prejpara- 
tion  the  teacher  has  received,  he  cannot  hope  to  realize  his 
highest  possibilities  unless  he  has  the  right  attitude  to  ward  his 
calling.  Professional  ideals  determine  to  a  considerable  degree 
whether  he  is  to  be  a  success  or  a  failure. 

Chief  among  these  ideals  is  that  of  service.  The  teacher  should 
regard  himself  as  a  public  servant,  and  like  the  physician  should 
be  ready  to  respond  to  the  call  of  duty  whenever  it  may  come. 
He  must  have  a  real  desire  to  help  his  pupils  and  to  advance  the 
educational  interests  of  the  community  in  which  he  lives.  While 
teachers  may  organize  to  promote  their  higher  professional 
interests,  they  cannot  consistently  combine  to  advance  their 
narrowly  selfish  aims. 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHER  57 

The  ideal  of  loyalty  is  closely  connected  with  that  of  service. 
The  teacher  must  be  loyal  to  his  profession,  his  colleagues,  and 
those  placed  in  authority  above  him.  While  he  has  a  right  to 
express  his  honest  opinions  in  regard  to  matters  of  educational 
policies,  and  while  often  it  is  his  duty  to  do  so,  he  must  refrain 
from  all  carping  and  secret  criticism  of  school-boards,  principals 
and  supervising  officers.  When  he  cannot  cooperate  honestly 
and  sincerely  with  his  co-workers  his  usefulness  in  the  com- 
munity is  generally  at  an  end. 

No  teacher  can  reach  his  highest  efficiency  without  high 
standards  of  attainment.  He  must  seek  by  every  legitimate 
means  to  advance  his  professional  standing.  He  must  be  ambi- 
tious to  increase  his  scholarly  knowledge,  his  general  culture,  and 
his  technical  ability.  He  must  continue  to  be  a  learner.  When- 
ever possible  he  should  visit  other  schools,  attend  teachers' 
gatherings,  extension  courses,  and  summer  sessions.  He  should 
under  any  circumstance  be  a  subscriber  to  at  least  one  journal 
in  the  field  of  secondary  education  and  to  a  second  in  his  special 
field  of  instruction.  He  should  read  the  best  books  appearing 
each  year  in  the  field  of  educational  theory  and  practice,  and 
should  be  himself  an  occasional  contributor  to  educational 
literature.  The  teacher  who  has  the  attitude  that  his  college 
course  has  provided  him  with  all  of  the  knowledge  and  most  of 
the  skill  necessary  for  his  professional  career,  can  never  achieve 
genuine  success. 

Summary  of  the  Foregoing  Discussion.— From  the  fore- 
going discussion  it  is  possible  to  give  a  fairly  accurate  picture  of 
the  ideal  secondary  teacher.  This  composite  photograph  would 
be  that  of  a  man  (or  woman)  possessing  the  following  abilities 
and  characteristics: — 

He  would  be  a  man  of  sterlin^character,  superioxlntelligence, 
and  some  special  aptituii&joxj£aching;  he  would  have  an 
adequate  prqgaxsition  both  in  general  and  special  subject-matter 
and  in  professional  studies,  including  practice  teaching,  taken 


58  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

if  possible  during  a  year  of  special  advanced  study  following  the 
completion  of  a  four-year  course  in  a  standard  college;  he  would 
also  have  had  several  years  of  successful  experience  as  a  teacher, 
and  would  have  acquired  instructional  skill  and  disciplinary 
control;  he  would  possess  an  energetic ^personality,  vital  yet  well 
balanced;  he  would  have  a  genuine  interest  in  his  pupils,  a  dis- 
position patient,  sympathetic,  genial  and  good:natured,  yet 
with  poise,  dignity  and  reserve;  he  would  possess  optimism  and 
capacity  for  inspiring  enthusiasm;  he  would  be  absolutely  fair 
in  his  treatment  of  all,  and  he  would  not  only  be  fair,  but  he 
would  have  the  ability  of  making  his  pupils  realize  that  he  is 
fair;  he  would  be  consistent  in  attitude,  frank  and  open,  free 
from  subterfuge  and  deceit,  his  whole  personality  would  be 
tempered  by  a  genuine  jsenj^otjmmor  and  an  appreciation  of 
life,  especially  life  as  his  pupils  see  it  and  live  it;  finally  he  would 
be  inspired  with  the  highest  personal  and  professional  ideals  of 
conduct  and  attainment.  Probably  no  teacher  ever  possessed 
all  of  these  qualities  in  their  fullest  strength,  but  certainly  no 
teacher  ever  made  a  marked  success  in  his  calling  who  did  not 
have  in  his  make-up  a  considerable  number  of  these  excellences 
and  at  least  a  few  of  them  in  a  superior  degree. 


CHAPTER  IV 

DISCIPLINE    IN    THE    HIGH    SCHOOL. — INDIRECT    CONTROL 

The  Problem  of  Discipline  is  of  Primary  Importance  for 
the  American  High  School  Teacher. — It  has  been  pointed  out 
in  the  discussions  of  the  preceding  chapter  that  ability  to  control 
the  class  is  one  of  the  chief  qualities  of  merit  in  the  high  school 
teacher,  while  lack  of  this  ability  is  among  the  foremost  causes  of 
failure  among  teachers.  The  problem  of  class  control  is  im- 
portant for  every  teacher  and  in  every  grade  of  instruction. 
Unless  the  class  is  reasonably  attentive  and  docile,  nothing 
worth  while  can  be  accomplished,  no  matter  how  efficient  in 
other  respects  the  teacher  may  be.  However,  the  question  of 
discipline  is  a  more  pressing  problem  for  the  American  than  for 
the  European  secondary  teacher.  The  reasons  for  this  contrast 
are  to  be  found  largely  in  the  essential  difference  between  our 
conception  of  the  scope  and  purpose  of  secondary  education  and 
that  of  Europe,  and  this  raises  one  of  the  gravest  problems  in 
regard  to  the  future  of  our  high  schools. 

As  a  Rule  the  Pupil  in  our  High  Schools  Lacks  a  Com- 
pelling Motive. — In  our  eagerness  to  make  secondary  education 
universal,  in  our  desire  to  appeal  to  all  varieties  of  interests  and 
all  grades  of  ability,  in  our  over-emphasis  of  the  value  of  spon- 
taneity as  a  dynamic  force  in  learning,  we  have  neglected  to 
emphasize  high  standards  and  rigorous  requirements.  The 
great  majority  of  high  school  pupils  can  secure  a  passing  grade 
with  a  minimum  of  study.  Hard  work  is  not  a  necessity  for 
them.  They  have  time  to  be  inattentive  and  disorderly  if  they 
are  so  inclined.  On  the  other  hand,  the  pupils  in  the  secondary 
schools  of  Germany  and  France  must  work  if  they  succeed;  and 

59 


60  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

hard,  honest  work  is  a  compelling  motive  in  the  classroom  that 
makes  serious  disorder  well  nigh  an  impossibility.  In  addition 
to  this,  success  or  failure  in  the  school  career  means  vastly  more 
to  the  European  secondary  pupil  than  it  does  to  the  American 
boy  or  girl.  Failure  in  the  high  school  is  often  a  mere  incident  of 
trivial  significance;  failure  in  the  Gymnasium  or  Lysee  is  a 
tragedy.  If  the  obtaining  of  a  passing  grade  signified  as  much  to 
our  high  school  pupils  as  it  does  to  a  West  Point  cadet  the  dis- 
ciplinary problems  of  our  secondary  schools  would  largely  dis- 
appear. 

In  far  too  Many  Cases  the  Attitude  of  the  Home  and  the 
Community  Toward  the  Work  of  the  Pupil  Lacks  Serious- 
ness.— Not  only  do  the  high  schools  themselves  fail  to  insist  on 
hard  work  and  high  standards,  but  also  the  parents  and  friends 
of  the  pupils  adopt  the  same  indulgent  attitude  toward  the 
boys  and  girls  under  their  direction  and  control.  Indeed,  many 
teachers  find  to  their  sorrow  that  when  they  attempt  to  insist  on 
thorough  work  from  their  pupils,  they  receive  in  their  endeavors 
no  support  from  the  home.  The  social  attitude  toward  the  work 
of  the  pupil  in  the  secondary  school  of  Europe  is  different. 
There  the  pupil  finds  no  sympathy  for  delinquencies.  It  is  there 
the  fashion  l  to  do  good  work,  it  is  the  fashion  to  be  respectful, 
docile,  and  industrious. 

The  High  School  Teacher  Must  of  his  own  Initiative 
Attempt  to  Create  the  Proper  Attitude  Towards  School 
Work. — Because  of  these  reasons  it  becomes  necessary  for 
the  high  school  teacher  often  to  make  determined  efforts  to 
secure  the  reasonable  attention  and  proper  behavior  on  the  part 
of  the  members  of  his  class  that  he  cannot  assume  in  advance 

1 W.  C.  Bagley  in  his  book  on  School  Discipline  (1015),  defines  the  well- 
disciplined  school  as  "one  in  which  the  'fashion'  or  'mode'  of  good  order, 
courteous  behavior,  and  aggressive  industry  has  been  firmly  established." 
This  fashion  cannot  be  set  up  by  the  school  alone;  it  must  be  supported  and 
supplemented  by  a  corresponding  sentiment  in  the  home. 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  6 1 

exists.  Thus  it  frequently  happens  that  good  order,  which 
should  be  merely  the  incident  and  condition  of  good  teaching,  is 
forced  upon  the  instructor  of  our  American  boys  and  girls  as  the 
chief  problem  in  the  conduct  of  his  classes.  No  teacher  can 
safely  ignore  this  problem,  least  of  all  the  novice  in  teaching  who 
will  often  find  a  disposition  to  "try  him  out"  on  the  part  of  the 
class,  simply  because  he  is  a  new  and  inexperienced  teacher. 

The  importance  of  the  problem  of  discipline  should,  however,  not 
be  over-emphasized  to  the  point  of  making  the  new  teacher  feel  that 
it  is  the  one  overwhelming  consideration  that  confronts  him.  As  he 
progresses  in  his  acquaintance  with  his  pupils  and  in  the  skill  of  his 
instruction,  disciplinary  questions  will  not  be  largely  in  the  focus  of 
his  attention,  and  even  at  the  beginning  of  his  career  he  should  have 
no  serious  trouble  in  a  school  that  on  the  whole  has  the  right  attitude, 
if  he  possesses  vigor,  courage,  and  common-sense.  During  the  past 
five  years  the  writer  has  visited  hundreds  of  classes  in  many  different 
high  schools  and  academies,  and  he  has  found  the  poorly  disciplined 
class  exceptional.  Especially  in  the  schools  that  have  wise  and  capa- 
ble principals,  the  novice  in  secondary  teaching  need  have  no  fear,  if 
he  does  his  share,  that  he  will  fail  because  of  the  poor  discipline  of  his 
classes. 

In  the  Best  Controlled  Class  the  Problem  of  Discipline  is 
not  Obvious. — It  is  a  frequent  comment  made  by  observers  of 
classes  in  the  high  school  that  they  can  say  nothing  about  dis- 
cipline because  there  is  no  evidence  of  discipline.  They  report 
that  the  pupils  seem  attentive  and  interested  and  that  there  is 
no  problem  of  order  to  engage  the  teacher  and  distract  him 
from  his  work  with  the  class.  However,  when  the  engine  is  run- 
ning smoothly,  without  noise  and  friction,  it  is  because  the  en- 
gineer has  inspected,  adjusted,  and  oiled  his  machinery  in  ad- 
vance. A  smoothly  running  class  is  no  more  of  an  accident 
than  is  a  smoothly  running  machine.  "It  is  a  paradox  of  the 
well-disciplined  school,"  says  Bagley,1  "that  discipline  'is  con- 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  i. 


62  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

spicuous  by  its  absence.' "  However,  it  is  no  longer  a  paradox 
when  we  examine  beneath  the  surface,  and  discover  the  causes 
that  have  brought  about  order,  attention,  and  studiousness. 
Good  discipline  is  never  a  matter  of  chance.  It  is  prepared  for, 
either  consciously  or  unconsciously,  by  the  teacher  in  advance 
of  the  class  situation.  This  feature  of  class  management  may 
be  called  indirect  discipline,  discipline  that  is  in  a  sense  a  by- 
product, discipline  that  exists  not  because  it  has  been  demanded 
or  directly  enforced,  but  because  other  classroom  and  school 
conditions  exist  that  make  the  opportunities  for  inattention 
and  misbehavior  slight.  The  teacher  who  secures  this  indirect 
discipline  has  the  best  disciplined  class.  It  will  be  worth  our 
while  to  inquire  into  some  of  the  causes  that  contribute  to  this 
most  desirable  result. 

(a)  The  smoothly-running  class  is  the  class  in  which  all  of  the 
pupils  are  doing  rigorous  mental  work. — In  our  previous  discus- 
sion we  have  said  that  one  compelling  motive  that  makes  for 
good  order  is  an  attitude  of  serious  work  on  the  part  of  the  class. 
The  teacher  who  wishes  to  secure  good  order  will  do  all  in  his 
power  to  keep  the  individuals  mentally  alert;  he  will  see  to  it 
that  they  have  few  idle  moments  during  the  class  period.  How 
to  secure  this  mental  alertness  is  a  question  worthy  of  discussion. 

Here  we  may  put  down  as  the  first  law  or  maxim, — "  Begin 
each  class  exercise  with  vigor  and  promptness."  1  Impress  upon 
the  pupils  at  the  start  that  no  time  is  to  be  lost,  that  for  both 
teacher  and  pupil  it  is  to  be  a  working  hour.  For  this  reason 
the  teacher  should  have  some  method  of  taking  the  class-roll 
promptly;  he  should  have  all  materials  that  are  necessary  to 
begin  the  work  at  hand;  books,  papers,  writing  tablets  and  the 
like  should  be  on  the  pupils'  desks,  materials  for  presentation  on 
the  blackboard  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  placed  there  in 
advance.  If  something  is  to  be  written  on  the  board  at  the 
beginning  of  the  hour  it  is  better  to  ask  one  or  more  members 
1  See  Chapter  XVII.,  p.  375. 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  63 

of  the  class  to  do  this  than  to  have  the  teacher  take  this  time 
himself.  The  beginning  of  the  hour  should  not  be  used  for  the 
purpose  of  consulting  with  individual  members  of  the  class. 
Above  all  the  teacher  should  always  know  just  where  the  day's 
assignment  begins,  he  should  never  turn  over  the  pages  of  the 
text-book  in  an  attempt  to  locate  the  lesson,  or  be  compelled 
to  ask  the  class  where  they  stopped  at  the  end  of  the  preceding 
recitation. 

It  has  been  the  writer's  experience  that  many  classes  in  laboratory 
science  are  woefully  slow  in  getting  started.  It  is  the  practice  of 
some  instructors  to  require  the  pupils  to  spend  from  ten  to  fifteen 
minutes  at  the  beginning  of  the  hour  in  reading  their  manual,  and  in 
getting  together  their  materials.  The  result  is  that  they  generally 
enter  upon  their  laboratory  work  in  anything  but  an  aggressive 
spirit.  One  of  the  worst  classes  that  I  have  ever  observed  both  from 
the  standpoint  of  order  and  of  effective  instruction  was  a  class  of  this 
type.  The  pupils  on  entering  the  laboratory  spent  from  ten  to  twenty 
minutes  in  finding  out  what  they  were  expected  to  do;  they  then 
spent  even  a  greater  amount  of  time  in  finding  their  apparatus,  setting 
it  up,  and  getting  it  to  work.  Needless  to  say  that  the  brief  time 
that  remained  for  actually  doing  the  work  was  spent  in  dawdling  and 
shilly-shally  when  it  was  not  devoted  to  positive  disorder.  The  total 
(double)  period  of  eighty  minutes  was  cut  short  at  the  end  by  the 
requirement  of  writing  up  the  note-books  during  the  laboratory 
period.  This  reduced  the  working  time  by  a  further  fifteen  minutes, 
so  that  it  actually  happened  that  a  considerable  number  of  the  pupils 
did  not  spend  a  half-hour  in  actually  doing  the  work  of  experimenta- 
tion for  which  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes  was  supposed  to  be  de- 
voted. The  waste  involved  in  the  laboratory  exercise  of  this  type 
will  be  discussed  more  at  length  in  a  following  chapter.1 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  laboratory  exercise  just  described  is  one 
recently  observed  by  the  writer  in  which  the  entire  double  period 
was  spent  in  genuine  experimentation.  The  subject  was  physics,  and 
the  recitation  preceding  the  laboratory  exercise  had  been  employed 

1  See  Chapter  VII.,  p.  132. 


64  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

by  the  instructor  in  definite  preparation  for  the  experimental  work. 
When  the  pupils  assembled  in  the  laboratory  they  found  all  of  the 
necessary  materials  for  the  experiment  at  hand.  They  began  at  once 
to  set  up  their  apparatus  and  in  less  than  five  minutes  all  were  busily 
engaged  in  working  on  their  experiment.  The  period  was  so  super- 
vised by  the  instructor  and  two  "student  foremen"  that  the  entire 
class  was  kept  busy  for  the  whole  period.  A  few  of  the  more  intelli- 
gent and  skilful  pupils  finished  the  required  exercise  in  about  sixty 
minutes,  and  these  were  given  additional  work.  Three  pupils  failed 
to  complete  the  work  at  the  end  of  the  period,  but  they  were  required 
to  use  the  next  free  period  at  their  disposal  for  this  purpose.  Brief 
notes  were  taken  by  the  pupils  during  the  course  of  the  experimenta- 
tion, and  these  notes  were  amplified  and  carefully  written  up  during 
a  subsequent  period  of  supervised  study. 

The  second  maxim  reads, — "Strive  to  keep  each  member  of 
the  class  busy  during  the  entire  period. "  There  should  be  no 
pauses  of  length  during  the  recitation.  What  has  already  been 
said  about  having  materials  at  hand  when  necessary,  about  time 
spent  on  writing  on  the  blackboard,  about  conversations  with 
individual  pupils,  should  be  observed  here.  It  frequently  hap- 
pens that  a  teacher  stops  the  more  rigorous  routine  of  the  class 
work  to  discuss  at  some  length  some  matter  of  passing  interest 
or  to  comment  on  the  work  of  a  single  pupil.  At  such  times 
there  is  an  obvious  letting  up  of  the  attention,  and  not  only 
is  the  time  employed  by  the  teacher  in  making  these  comments 
largely  wasted,  but  also  there  is  a  distinct  waste  in  again  adapt- 
ing the  attention  to  the  more  strenuous  work  of  the  hour.  In 
the  case  of  the  able  teacher,  who  has  his  class  under  control,  the 
loss  is  merely  that  of  the  time  spent;  but  for  the  teacher  who 
is  at  all  weak  in  discipline  such  periods  are  fraught  with  grave 
dangers. 

There  are  various  devices  of  a  specific  nature  that  the  teacher  may 
legitimately  use  to  keep  the  class  alert,  particularly  since  they  are 
not  merely  of  value  in  securing  good  order,  but  they  are  likewise  to 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  65 

be  often  recommended  from  the  standpoint  of  correct  method.  These 
will  be  but  briefly  mentioned  here,  as  they  are  to  be  discussed  more  in 
detail  in  later  portions  of  this  book. 

Written  work  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  these.  It  is  a  com- 
mon experience  to  observe  a  class  that  is  inattentive  and  at  times  in 
positive  disorder  totally  change  its  attitude  when  a  brief  test  or  some 
other  form  of  written  exercise  is  demanded.  Indeed  with  an  unruly 
class  it  is  at  times  the  only  potent  method  of  quelling  disorder.  Writ- 
ten work  has  a  value  over  oral  work  for  other  reasons,  and  these  will 
be  considered  in  their  proper  place. 

It  is  generally  desirable  in  assigning  written  work  to  the  class  to 
give  a  sufficient  quantity  to  keep  all  of  the  pupils  busy  all  of  the  time. 
For  example,  in  a  written  exercise  in  algebra  enough  problems  and 
examples  should  be  given  so  that  the  more  rapid  pupils  will  not  finish 
ahead  of  the  time  devoted  to  the  exercise.  The  usual  practice  is  to 
give  to  the  class  a  definite  number  of  such  exercises,  as  a  rule  no 
more  than  the  pupil  of  medium  ability  can  work  out.  As  a  result  a 
considerable  number  of  the  class  finish  perhaps  from  one  to  five 
minutes  ahead  of  the  slower  pupils,  and  thus  have  a  considerable 
period  unoccupied.  It  is  a  better  practice  to  assign  to  the  class  an 
ample  amount  of  work  for  all,  with  the  instructions  to  work  as  rapidly 
and  as  accurately  as  possible. 

Rapid  questioning  is  also  important  in  securing  the  proper  sort  of 
attention.  Seldom  should  one  pupil  be  asked  a  series  of  questions 
for  any  length  of  time,  and  every  member  of  the  class  should  be  ac- 
customed to  pay  such  attention  at  all  points  in  the  recitation  that  he 
can  take  up  the  work  where  the  one  who  is  reciting  has  left  off.  It  is 
likewise  advantageous  to  ask  the  question  of  the  whole  class,  later 
designating  the  particular  pupil  who  is  to  reply.  The  writer  has  re- 
cently suggested  to  a  teacher  of  Latin  a  procedure  based  on  this 
principle,  and  it  seems  to  have  worked  well.  The  Latin  to  be  trans- 
lated is  first  read  carefully  by  the  teacher  with  the  attention  of  the 
entire  class  directed  toward  it,  then  there  is  a  pause  of  from  ten  to 
fifteen  seconds  in  which  the  individual  members  of  the  class  are  en- 
gaged in  silent  translation,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  this  period  one 
member  of  the  class  is  called  upon  to  read  the  sentence,  with  the  un- 
derstanding that  if  he  does  not  do  so  with  reasonable  fluency,  another 


66  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

pupil  will  be  asked  to  take  his  place.  The  result  has  been  a  better 
translation,  better  general  attention,  and  no  loss  in  the  total  time 
consumed  for  this  part  of  the  work.  In  connection  with  the  question 
of  the  technique  of  this  phase  of  the  class  work  it  need  hardly  be 
said  that  it  is  not  a  proper  practice  to  spend  time  in  attempting  to 
drag  statements  from  pupils  when  they  have  neither  the  knowledge 
nor  thinking  ability  to  answer  them  in  a  reasonable  time.  It  is  like- 
wise obviously  an  error  to  call  upon  pupils  in  any  regular  order,  or  to 
have  any  general  rule  about  the  number  of  questions  that  shall  be 
asked  a  single  pupil  when  reciting.1 

Holding  all  members  of  the  class  responsible  for  the  errors  made 
by  pupils  reciting  is  another  method  of  securing  attention.  It  is 
generally  desirable  to  do  this,  but  it  should  not  be  carried  to  the 
extent  of  developing  a  spirit  of  criticism  on  the  part  of  the  class  toward 
the  pupil  who  is  reciting,  or  of  encouraging  many  trivial  criticisms. 
This  method  is  sometimes  employed — the  pupils  who  have  noted  an 
error  in  a  recitation  stand  up  or  raise  their  hands  to  correct  such 
errors  at  the  conclusion  of  the  recitation.  Under  such  conditions  the 
over-critical  spirit  is  in  danger  of  being  developed.  The  writer  has 
observed  this  fault  particularly  in  the  elementary  school,  where  the 
practice  is  common. 

In  many  classes  it  is  possible  advantageously  to  develop  the  prac- 
tice of  silent  reading  in  connection  with  later  writing  down  or  stating 
orally  the  ideas  obtained  from  this  reading.  This  is  often  one  of  the 
best  ways  of  developing  a  new  lesson  in  history,  particularly  in  con- 
nection with  teaching  the  pupils  how  to  study  history.  It  is  also  ap- 
plicable to  a  considerable  amount  of  the  work  in  English  literature. 
It  is  often  a  good  practice  to  have  the  members  of  a  class  read  over  a 
problem  in  mathematics,  an  experiment  in  science,  or  a  paragraph  in 
a  foreign  language  in  order  to  get  the  proper  orientation  before  start- 
ing on  more  detailed  work.  Clearly,  when  pupils  are  working  in  this 
way  they  are  likely  to  give  a  fairly  high  grade  of  attention  and  to 
engage  in  no  positive  disorder.2 

It  should  be  said  finally  that  the  teacher  has  a  right  to  expect  and 
demand  reasonable  attention  on  the  part  of  his  pupils.    He  cannot, 

1  See  Chapter  XV.,  p.  315.  2  See  Chapter  XVII.,  p.  377. 


DISCIPLINE   IN  THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  67 

however  energetic  his  personality  and  however  great  his  instruc- 
tional skill,  keep  the  interest  of  all  of  his  pupils  all  of  the  time  on  the 
subject-matter  of  instruction.  If  they  have  not  acquired  the  habit  of 
giving  active  attention  there  will  be  many  lapses  of  considerable 
length.  While  it  is  his  duty  to  make  every  recitation  as  vital  as  pos- 
sible, the  teacher  is  not  to  be  considered  as  primarily  an  entertainer. 
From  the  very  beginning  he  should  assume  the  attitude  of  expecting 
the  undivided  attention  of  the  class  during  the  entire  recitation 
period,  and  he  should  insist  constantly  that  such  attention  be  given. 
If  he  initiates  the  proper  attitudes  and  the  right  habits  at  the  start 
he  will  find  that  he  has  solved  many  of  his  difficulties. 

Closely  connected  with  the  question  of  securing  mental  alert- 
ness during  the  entire  class  period  is  a  third  maxim  which  reads, 
— "Have  some  system  of  holding  every  member  of  the  class 
responsible  for  all  that  takes  place  during  the  class  period." 
Impress  upon  the  class  that  the  recitation  is  for  them  in  a  large 
measure  a  study  period;  make  the  pupils  feel  that  here  they 
have  the  opportunity  to  acquire  new  knowledge  and  skill  and  to 
perfect  themselves  in  knowledge  and  skill  already  partly  ac- 
quired. It  is  for  the  interests  of  all  that  the  class  become  accus- 
tomed to  the  idea  that  a  class  period  is  not  primarily  for  the 
purpose  of  discovering  what  the  individual  pupils  have  pre- 
viously learned,  but  that  its  chief  function  is  to  add  something 
to  what  they  already  have  acquired.  The  teacher  should  strive 
in  every  way  possible  to  make  the  pupils  realize  that  it  is  to 
their  great  advantage  to  give  undivided  attention  during  the 
period. 

One  method  of  securing  this  result  is  to  have  at  the  end  of  each 
recitation  a  written  quiz  of  from  five  to  ten  minutes  in  length  in  which 
the  pupils  are  examined  on  some  of  the  more  important  matters  that 
have  been  brought  out  during  the  period.1  To  make  this  quiz  effec- 
tive it  should  be  comprehensive  and  fair  in  its  nature  and  should  be 
carefully  marked  by  the  teacher.    Further,  pupils  who  fail  on  the  quiz 

1  See  Chapter  VIII.,  p.  172. 


68  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

should  be  required  to  make  up  the  work  outside  of  regular  school 
hours.  If  the  class  work  is  of  the  nature  of  a  demonstration  the  pupils 
should  be  required  to  write  a  brief  description  of  what  has  happened 
and  tell  its  significance.  If  the  teacher  uses  the  lecture  method,  he 
should  insist  on  accurate  notes  carefully  written  up  and  reconstructed 
in  terms  of  the  pupil's  own  thinking  and  in  his  own  language.  It 
would  be  possible  to  correlate  some  of  the  work  of  this  nature  with  the 
theme  requirement  of  the  English  courses.  In  some  instances  atten- 
tion has  been  stimulated  by  calling  upon  several  pupils  at  the  end  of 
the  class  period  to  ask  questions  of  their  mates  based  on  what  has 
been  developed  during  the  recitation.  The  chief  objection  to  using 
this  method  generally  is  that  the  questioners  are  not  apt  to  frame 
their  questions  with  sufficient  skill,  and  often  fail  to  emphasize  the 
most  important  parts  of  the  lesson.  In  some  classes  in  the  elemen- 
tary school,  pupils  are  asked  to  write  out  questions  during  the  class 
period  concerning  matters  that  are  then  being  discussed.  Some 
minutes  at  the  end  of  the  period  are  used  in  having  the  pupils  put  the 
questions.  A  pupil  rises,  reads  a  question  and  calls  upon  a  particular 
member  of  the  class  to  answer  it.  If  the  answer  is  correctly  given, 
the  pupil  replying  is  then  permitted  to  ask  a  question  that  he  has 
prepared. 

The  fourth  maxim  for  securing  and  holding  the  attention  of 
the  class  may  be  stated  thus, — "The  teacher  must  hear  all  and 
see  all  that  is  happening  in  the  class  all  of  the  time."  The  teacher 
who  hopes  to  hold  attention  and  maintain  discipline  must  be 
alert.  An  experienced  teacher  in  a  small  class  may  relax  at 
times  with  safety,  but  the  young  teacher  must  always  be  vigi- 
lant. It  is  not  safe  to  make  universally  binding  rules  in  regard 
to  classroom  practices,  but  the  beginning  teacher  will  be  less 
likely  to  get  into  disciplinary  difficulties  if  he  makes  it  a  practice 
to  stand  when  teaching.  He  should  also  move  about  freely, 
and  although  he  should  keep  in  front  of  the  class  when  he  is 
directing  it,  he  may  at  such  times  as  pupils  are  reciting  to  the 
class  or  demonstrating  at  the  board  move  about  between  the 
seats  or  even  stand  at  the  rear  of  the  room. 


DISCIPLINE   IN  THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  69 

It  hardly  needs  to  be  added  that  the  teacher  must  not  only  see  all 
and  hear  all,  but  that  he  should  actively  interfere  when  there  is  need. 
While  it  is  true  that  as  a  rule  a  pupil  will  give  better  attention  when 
he  finds  the  teacher  observing  him  than  when  he  believes  that  he  is 
not  noticed,  if  he  finds  that  nothing  happens  on  such  occasions  he 
will  soon  disregard  the  teacher  on  all  occasions.  The  principle  of 
watchful  waiting  is  not  likely  to  succeed  in  school  discipline.  Here, 
however,  we  are  touching  on  the  positive  side  of  the  problem  of  class 
control,  and  this  we  must  consider  in  a  later  chapter. 

(b)  In  the  smoothly  running  class  the  pupils  are  interested  in 
their  work. — The  teacher  who  makes  his  subject  interesting  has 
as  a  rule  few  disciplinary  problems  to  solve.  This  is  almost  a 
truism.  All  educational  reformers  have  emphasized  the  im- 
portance of  interest  in  the  work  of  the  school  if  the  best  results 
are  to  be  secured.  However,  to  insist  that  school  work  shall  be 
made  interesting  is  in  itself  of  little  value  from  the  simple  fact 
that  this  demand  at  the  same  time  means  so  much  and  so  little. 
It  means  much  in  the  sense  that  adequately  to  work  out  a  sys- 
tem of  instruction  on  the  basis  of  the  doctrine  of  interest  would 
require  not  only  a  most  profound  educational  philosophy  but 
also  an  acquaintance  of  the  most  intimate  character  with  the 
pupil  and  the  subject-matter  of  every  grade  of  instruction, 
coupled  with  a  practical  insight  of  unusual  penetration.  It 
means  little  in  the  sense  that  as  merely  stated  it  is  the  most  un- 
profitable of  educational  platitudes.  It  savors  of  the  "dark 
ages"  in  education  and  of  the  days  when  appeal  was  made  to  a 
psychology  that  was  at  the  same  time  common-place  and  in- 
adequate. In  the  brief  limits  of  this  chapter  the  writer  cannot 
hope  to  give  a  systematic  or  extended  treatment  of  this  im- 
portant question.  The  aim  will  be  merely  in  the  first  place  to 
attempt  to  clear  up  a  few  fundamental  misunderstandings  in 
regard  to  interest  and  then  to  suggest  briefly  some  of  the  means 
by  which  a  legitimate  interest  may  be  secured. 

At  the  outset  of  the  discussion  I  wish  to  make  this  point  def- 


70  INTRODUCTION  TO   HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

inite  and  clear,  namely, — Interest  is  not  mere  entertainment. 
Many  teachers  have  thought  that  when  they  were  urged  to 
interest  their  pupils  they  were  expected  to  amuse  them.  Now 
this  is  an  extremely  difficult  thing  to  do  in  the  first  place;  again 
if  it  were  possible  it  would  mean  resorting  to  devices  that  lower 
the  quality  of  the  instruction,  and  the  value  of  the  subject- 
matter,  and  finally  the  teacher  would  be  compelled  constantly 
to  intensify  the  nature  of  the  appeals  made  to  the  pupils  for 
their  entertainment.  The  original  efforts  to  amuse,  successful 
at  first,  would  soon  lose  their  potency.  In  the  end  the  pupils 
would  become  blase,  and  incapable  of  obtaining  real  pleasure 
from  any  of  the  methods  that  the  ingenuity  of  a  "soft  pedagogy" 
would  be  able  to  devise.  The  teacher  must  remember  that  his 
first  duty  is  to  teach.  He  cannot  hope  to  rival  the  "movies" 
or  the  circus,  and  it  is  not  his  business  to  do  this  if  he  could. 

No  single  factor  has  brought  the  profession  of  education  into  greater 
distrust,  amounting  at  times  to  contempt,  than  this  false  conception 
of  the  doctrine  of  interest,  and  few  conceptions  have  done  it  more 
practical  harm  in  classroom  procedure.  A  short  time  ago  I  observed 
a  class  in  general  science  in  which  the  teacher  was  evidently  working 
on  the  theory  that  it  was  his  business  to  amuse  the  class  rather  than 
to  give  them  important  and  useful  knowledge  in  regard  to  the  world 
about  them.  He  said  a  great  deal  about  the  spectacular  features  of 
aeronautics,  particularly  the  uses  of  aeroplanes  in  the  Great  War, 
but  he  gave  no  hint  of  any  scientific  principles  in  their  construction. 
It  appeared  that  the  general  topic  for  consideration  was  the  air,  and 
later  he  told  about  great  storms  and  other  remarkable  happenings. 
His  general  principle  of  procedure  seemed  to  be  to  select  as  many 
spectacular  facts  as  he  could  gather  in  regard  to  air  and  things  that 
happened  in  the  air,  but  he  had  no  conception  of  a  scientific  treatment 
of  this  topic.  The  class  seemed  moderately  interested  in  the  discus- 
sion, but  I  have  seen  far  greater  interest  in  classes  where  the  teacher 
thought  only  about  the  subject  and  its  clear  and  adequate  presenta- 
tion. Indeed,  on  the  same  day  I  chanced  to  visit  an  advanced  class 
in  Greek  in  one  of  those  few  high  schools  that  continue  to  emphasize 


DISCIPLINE   IN  THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  71 

the  subject,  and  here  I  witnessed  real  enthusiasm  in  the  translation 
at  sight  of  a  reasonably  difficult  passage  from  Plato.  There  was  here 
no  attempt  to  amuse  or  entertain,  only  to  instruct,  but  there  was 
intense  interest  in  the  work  and  it  was  hard  work,  too,  demanding 
concentration  of  a  high  order. 

Again  it  should  be  remembered  that  interest  is  not  opposed  to 
effort.  On  the  contrary,  the  highest  grades  of  interest  are  ac- 
companied by  an  expenditure  of  strenuous  effort.  Both  mental 
and  physical  work  may  be  interesting.  Further,  work  may  not 
only  be  accompanied  by  interest,  but  wholesome  work  usually 
engenders  interest.  The  teacher  who  constantly  strives  to 
make  his  subject  easy  will  in  the  end  destroy  a  vital  interest  in 
that  subject.  For  this  reason  every  pupil  should  be  given  a  real 
task,  something  that  is  a  challenge  to  his  ability,  that  calls  forth 
genuine  endeavor. 

It  is  a  common  experience  that  school  subjects  that  require  an 
honest  mental  reaction  are  preferred  by  pupils  of  good  or  fair  ability 
to  those  that  make  no  demands  on  the  learner.  "Snap  courses" 
may  be  at  times  selected,  but  they  are  seldom  favorite  subjects  of 
study.  In  this  connection  I  recall  two  courses  in  English  literature. 
In  one  the  pupils  did  little  more  than  absorb.  They  were  asked 
to  read  a  certain  number  of  books  outside  of  the  class,  and  to  make 
brief  and  prefunctory  reports  on  their  reading.  The  class  work  needed 
practically  no  preparation,  and  the  discussion  in  the  class  demanded 
no  mental  effort  on  the  part  of  the  pupils.  The  teacher  was  aiming  to 
inculcate  in  the  minds  of  his  pupils  an  appreciation  of  literature,  and 
it  was  his  theory  that  appreciation  could  be  gained  only  through  in- 
direct means.  It  was  his  belief  that  if  he  directed  the  activities  of  the 
class,  and  required  them  definitely  to  do  anything,  the  aesthetic  value 
of  the  subject-matter  would  be  destroyed.  As  a  result  he  gained 
neither  appreciation  nor  interest. 

In  the  second  class  the  teacher  aimed  likewise  to  create  in  his  pupils 
a  real  love  of  English,  but  he  had  concrete  aims  as  to  how  this  should 
be  accomplished.    He  not  only  required  his  pupils  to  read  but  he  re- 


72  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

quired  them  to  react  in  a  definite  way  to  what  they  read.  The  as- 
signments included  the  answering  of  specific  questions  in  regard  to 
what  they  read.  These  questions  were  framed  so  as  to  arouse  thought, 
promote  discernment,  and  stimulate  curiosity.  Each  lesson  required, 
on  the  average,  an  hour's  preparation  outside  of  the  class  period,  and 
during  the  recitation  the  pupils  were  stimulated  to  mental  activity 
for  a  large  part  of  the  time.  The  interest  in  this  class  was  very  evi- 
dent. The  pupils  according  to  their  other  school  records  possessed 
no  greater  ability  than  the  pupils  in  the  first  course  discussed,  but 
they  responded  eagerly  to  a  subject  that  required  them  to  do  sus- 
tained mental  work. 

When  we  consider  the  topic  of  interest  from  the  point  of  view 
of  circumstances  that  condition  it,  we  find  many  legitimate 
appeals  that  may  be  made  by  teachers  of  every  subject  in 
the  curriculum,  appeals  that  do  not  destroy  the  value  of  the 
subject  as  such,  and  which  generally  enhance  its  worth  to 
the  pupil.  We  need  not  here  discuss  in  detail  the  various 
ways  in  which  interest  may  be  aroused,  but  we  can  point 
out  in  passing  some  of  the  more  obvious  aspects  of  the 
question. 

In  Chapter  II.  several  important  instincts  that  show  them- 
selves with  particular  force  during  the  adolescent  period  were 
considered,  particularly  in  their  relation  to  the  problems  of 
instruction  and  discipline.  We  saw  that  the  sex  instinct  em- 
phasizes grave  questions  in  regard  to  mental  hygiene  and  moral 
training;  that  the  "migratory  instinct"  must  be  met  by  making 
school  conditions  attractive;  that  the  "social  instinct' '  in  its 
various  forms  must  be  satisfied  in  the  school  life  in  general  and 
considered  in  classroom  instruction;  that  the  tendency  to  ex- 
plore, to  pry  into  and  to  question,  the  so-called  "instinct  of 
curiosity,"  must  be  so  directed  in  connection  with  the  various 
subjects  of  instruction  that  it  becomes  a  valuable  stimulus  in 
learning;  that  the  impulse  to  manipulate  can  be  aroused  in  such 
courses  as  manual  training.   This  latter  tendency  develops  under 


DISCIPLINE   IN  THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  73 

proper  guidance  into  what  Veblen  l  has  termed  the  "  instinct  of 
workmanship"  and  the  desire  for  excellence. 

Another  original  tendency  of  significance  in  learning  is  the 
impulse  to  hoard  and  collect.  This  is  an  important  aspect  of 
the  desire  for  possession,  "the  property  instinct."  The  original 
forms  of  behavior  that  show  themselves  in  attempts  to  excel  and 
master,  roughly  termed  the  "instinct  of  rivalry"  are  of  great 
importance  in  motivating  school  work.  Thorndike  2  lists  among 
the  important  human  tendencies  the  "  satisfyingness  of  mental 
control,"  as  he  terms  it.  "To  do  something  and  have  something 
happen  as  a  consequence  is,"  he  affirms,  "  other  things  being 
equal,  instinctively  satisfying."  He  relates  this  tendency  to 
what  Lindley3  has  called  "the  general  impulse  or  instinct  to 
exercise  the  intelligence  as  such."  In  this  original  tendency  we 
find  the  reason  for  the  pleasure  that  comes  in  playing  an  in- 
tellectual game  when  once  it  is  mastered.  In  other  words  a 
habit  of  intellectual  skill  has  been  formed,  and  it  is  a  law  of 
original  nature  that  the  exercise  of  a  habit  in  and  of  itself  is 
pleasurable.    This  may  be  termed  the  propensity  of  habit. 

The  instinct  of  joy  in  intellectual  mastery,  of  pleasure  in  playing 
the  game  when  once  you  know  how,  has  great  significance  in  the 
motivation  of  school  work.  It  is  clear  that  pupils  as  a  rule  like  to 
use  their  minds  when  they  can  use  them  well,  and  they  find  happiness 
in  mental  work  when  once  they  have  become  masters  of  it.  School 
tasks  are  a  drudgery  only  when  they  are  inefficiently  performed. 
Observe  a  class  in  mental  arithmetic  in  the  elementary  school.  They 
enter  into  the  rapid  drill  with  a  zest  that  is  genuine.  The  most  ab- 
stract subject  may  become  fascinating  to  those  who  have  a  real  knowl- 
edge and  comprehension  of  what  it  signifies.  Greek  when  thoroughly 
taught  may  arouse  as  much  interest  as  manual  training  or  stenog- 

1  The  Theory  of  the  Leisure  Class  (1899). 

2  E.  L.  Thorndike,  Educational  Psychology,  Vol.  I.  (1913). 

8  E.  H.  Lindley,  A  study  of  puzzles,  American  Journal  of  Psychology,  Vol. 
VIIL,  pp.  434-493  (1897). 


74  INTRODUCTION   TO   HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

raphy,  algebra  may  be  as  pleasurable  as  cooking,  and  formal  gram- 
mar as  entertaining  as  stories  of  adventure.  If  a  school  subject  is 
worth  while  it  must  be  taught  well,  and  the  teacher  must  do  all  in 
his  power  to  see  that  the  pupils  master  the  first  stages  of  the  work,  in 
order  that  they  may  acquire  that  fundamental  skill  and  knowledge 
that  is  absolutely  requisite  for  subsequent  interest  and  enjoyment. 

The  pleasure  that  is  derived  from  manipulation,  construction,  and 
excellence  in  workmanship  is  closely  allied  to  the  satisfyingness  of 
mental  activity.  It  may  be  thought  of  as  the  motor  aspect  of  intel- 
lectual skill.  We  have  already  spoken  of  its  gratification  in  courses 
in  the  manual  arts,  which  are  favorite  school  subjects  for  a  large 
number  of  boys.  However,  there  are  other  subjects  in  the  high  school 
that  afford  an  opportunity  for  the  expression  of  this  tendency.  The 
most  obvious  of  these  are  the  courses  in  household  arts  for  the  girls. 
Drawing,  painting,  and  those  aspects  of  laboratory  science  that  in- 
volve the  construction  and  manipulation  of  apparatus,  give  oppor- 
tunity likewise  for  the  expression  of  this  tendency.  It  is  further  pos- 
sible to  appeal  to  the  constructive  instinct  in  subjects  that  at  the 
first  glance  seem  to  demand  little  more  than  intellectual  skill.  Pupils 
may  be  required  to  model  in  clay  in  courses  in  biological  science  in 
order  that  they  may  work  out  in  three  dimensions  those  forms  of 
embryology  and  anatomy  that  are  difficult  to  grasp  through  drawings 
or  other  methods  of  presentation  in  two-dimensional  space.  Work 
of  this  type  has  been  developed  in  the  biological  laboratory  at  Brown 
University  with  most  satisfactory  results,  and  it  could  easily  be 
adapted  to  instruction  in  similar  courses  in  the  high  school.  In  many 
subjects  it  is  possible  to  require  the  pupils  to  construct  charts,  dia- 
grams, and  other  graphic  representations  that  aid  in  the  compre- 
hension of  facts  and  principles,  in  themselves  formal  and  abstract. 
In  geometry,  there  is  a  splendid  opportunity  for  developing  its  con- 
structional features;  map  drawing  may  be  made  an  important  adjunct 
to  the  teaching  of  history;  distribution  graphs  and  similar  devices 
aid  in  the  understanding  of  social  and  economic  questions;  even  a 
well-kept  note-book  in  courses  in  literature  may  give  an  added  pleas- 
ure in,  as  well  as  a  better  comprehension  of,  much  of  the  work  done.1 

The  "hoarding  and  collecting  instinct"  and  the  desire  to  possess 
1  See  Chapter  XII.,  p.  249. 


DISCIPLINE   IN  THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  75 

have  been  appealed  to,  particularly  in  elementary  education,  in  such 
subjects  as  nature  study,  in  which  the  making  of  collections  is  an 
important  part  of  the  work.  These  instincts  can  likewise  furnish 
motives  for  work  in  many  fields  of  high  school  instruction  as  well. 
Closely  connected  with  the  tendency  to  collect  and  hoard  is  the  desire 
to  possess.  This  impulse  may  be  appealed  to  in  various  ways.  For 
example,  it  is  generally  considered  desirable  in  courses  in  the  manual 
arts  to  require  pupils  to  make  articles  for  themselves  or  their  friends; 
in  the  domestic  arts,  girls  often  make  their  own  dresses  and  hats.  In 
courses  in  agriculture,  pupils  are  required  in  connection  with  the 
practical  work  to  cultivate  their  own  gardens  and  plots  of  land.  This 
principle  may  be  extended  to  the  "academic  courses."  In  physics, 
pupils  may  construct  scientific  apparatus  for  their  own  use,  or  for  the 
use  of  the  class  or  the  school.  One  of  the  most  enthusiastic  classes 
in  this  subject  that  the  writer  has  observed,  partly  made  and  entirely 
installed  an  outfit  in  wireless  telegraphy.  In  some  high  schools 
pupils  write  and  print  a  school  paper;  at  times  they  construct  scenery 
for  dramatic  representations;  in  some  instances,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  they  have  used  the  expert  skill,  developed  through  vocational 
courses,  to  run  a  cafeteria,  or  improve  the  athletic  ground. 

Of  the  remaining  original  tendencies  spoken  of  above,  the  instinct 
to  surpass  others,  to  excel,  to  be  a  leader,  is  probably  the  most  com- 
pelling. Many  pupils  hold  themselves  down  to  disagreeable  intellec- 
tual tasks  in  order  to  get  high  marks,  to  improve  their  previous  records, 
or  to  stand  above  their  fellows.  This  innate  impulse  toward  rivalry 
when  expressed  in  moderation  is  wholesome  and  should  be  encouraged. 
If  it  leads  to  hard  feelings,  unfair  methods,  and  unsportsmanlike 
conduct,  it  needs  to  be  checked.  Marks  are  the  objective  expression 
of  school  attainment,  and  it  is  natural  and  desirable  that  the  pupil 
should  be  interested  in  his  class  standing.  Marks  are  an  important 
means  of  motivating  school  work. 

In  Chapter  II.  we  discussed  in  connection  with  the  tendencies 
of  adolescence  less  directly  associated  with  instinct,  the  voca- 
tional interests,  and  pointed  out  their  great  importance  in  the 
motivation  of  school  work.  We  further  saw  that  intellectual 
interests  of  various  sorts  may  make  a  strong  appeal.    Among 


76  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

these  were  discussed  the  problem  interest,  the  reading  interest, 
and  the  interests  in  beauty,  morality,  and  religion.  In  further 
elaboration  of  the  question  of  interest  in  connection  with  the 
activities  of  the  classroom  we  may  add  the  following  considera- 
tions:— 

First,  interest  is  more  readily  aroused  when  the  attention  of  the 
learner  is  concentrated  on  the  thing  to  be  accomplished  than  when  it 
is  occupied  with  the  details  that  lead  to  the  accomplishment.  For 
example,  it  is  more  interesting  in  playing  golf  to  pay  attention  to 
the  point  toward  which  you  wish  to  drive  the  ball  than  it  is  to 
consider  the  proper  method  of  holding  and  manipulating  the 
driving  iron.  Likewise,  the  learner  on  the  piano  finds  more 
pleasure  in  rendering  his  first  piece  of  music  than  in  the  technical 
exercises  that  have  preceded  it.  In  a  similar  way  the  student  of 
a  language  enjoys  actual  conversation  and  reading  in  the  lan- 
guage more  than  he  does  the  study  of  grammar  and  the  learning 
of  the  vocabulary.  In  other  words,  we  are  more  interested  in 
the  thing  that  we  do,  than  the  motions  that  we  go  through  in  the 
doing. 

In  this  connection,  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  the  problem  of 
the  logical  versus  the  psychological  method  of  teaching.  In  the 
logical  method,  the  learner  starts  with  what  are  considered  the  ele- 
ments of  a  science,  the  fundamental  facts  of  civics,  the  basal  prin- 
ciples of  English  composition,  the  rudimentary  forms  of  skill  requi- 
site for  subsequent  proficiency  in  wood-work,  shop-practice,  or  dress- 
making. In  the  pyschological  method,  the  learner  from  the  very 
start  is  concerned  with  those  large  facts,  principles,  and  activities 
that  to  him  are  interesting  in  themselves.  In  biology,  he  does  not 
begin  with  the  single  cell,  but  with  some  living  form  well  known  to 
him;  in  science,  he  does  not  first  consider  trie  elementary  principles, 
but  something  with  which  he  is  acquainted  in  the  world  in  which  he 
lives,  perhaps  a  sewing  machine,  an  automobile,  aeroplane,  an  indus- 
trial plant,  or  a  street  railway  system;  in  civics,  he  is  directly  intro- 
duced to  community  activities,  and  learns  through  them  the  forces 
at  work  in  the  social  and  economic  life  of  his  day;  in  writing  English, 


DISCIPLINE   IN  THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  77 

he  does  not  begin  by  learning  a  large  number  of  rules,  and  their  ap- 
plications, but  he  writes  from  the  start  and  learns  the  principles  as  he 
progresses;  in  the  manual  and  domestic  arts,  he  makes  some  useful 
object  as  soon  as  possible,  and  spends  the  minimum  of  time  necessary 
on  learning  how  to  make  these  objects  before  actually  undertaking 
them.  In  a  preceding  chapter,  we  have  discussed  this  principle  in 
connection  with  the  direct  method  of  teaching  foreign  languages  which 
emphasizes  conversation  and  translation  from  the  start.  In  the  teach- 
ing of  all  subjects,  the  pupil  should  be  introduced  as  soon  as  possible 
to  those  forms  of  accomplishment  and  to  those  kinds  of  knowledge 
that  are  interesting  to  him,  and  the  elements  of  these  subjects  should 
be  taught  in  connection  with  the  knowing  and  the  doing  rather  than 
as  prior  to  them  and  leading  up  to  them. 

In  the  second  place,  interest  centers  more  in  the  concrete  than  in 
the  abstract.  One  of  the  greatest  faults  in  our  methods  of  in- 
struction, shared  by  teachers  and  text-books  alike,  is  the  fault  of 
generalization  without  specific  and  definite  examples  illustrating 
the  abstract  principles  set  forth.  The  average  teacher  finds  it 
extremely  difficult  to  give  to  the  class  clear  and  simple  illustra- 
tions of  the  facts  discussed.1  If  every  teacher  would  definitely 
plan  before  entering  the  classroom  the  means  by  which  he  may 
best  vivify  and  make  concrete  the  subject-matter  of  the  day's 
lesson  the  quality  of  instruction  would  be  greatly  improved. 

In  the  past  few  years  the  writer  has  had  under  his  direction  a  con- 
siderable number  of  "cadet  teachers,"  preparing  under  supervision 
for  positions  as  high  school  teachers.  In  their  lesson  plans  these 
students  are  required  to  state  the  illustrations  that  they  purpose  to 
use  in  their  daily  teaching.  This  for  many  is  the  most  difficult  part 
of  the  entire  plan.  They  seem  to  be  able  to  think  in  the  abstract,  but 
not  in  the  concrete.  Has  the  world  of  books  divorced  the  student 
from  life;  has  it  put  him  out  of  touch  with  the  vital  realities  about 
him;  has  it  weakened  his  imagination,  and  befogged  his  thinking? 
Not  only  is  the  novice  in  teaching  at  fault  in  this  particular  aspect 

'xThis  important  principle  of  teaching  is  discussed  at  length  in  Chap- 
ter XII. 


78  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

of  the  class  work;  the  experienced  teacher  often  fails  here  as  well. 
How  many  times  is  some  fact  of  great  human  importance  and  interest 
in  history,  science,  literature,  and  art  treated  as  a  mere  abstraction 
and  left  as  a  ghostly  generality,  devoid  of  life  and  meaning. 

In  the  third  place,  interest  is  dependent  not  merely  on  presenting 
facts  but  on  the  interpretation  of  them  in  terms  of  their  meanings. — 
We  must  illustrate,  we  must  make  concrete,  but  we  must  have 
something  of  general  import  to  illustrate,  we  must  make  the 
concrete  significant.  The  adolescent  years  are  years  of  thought 
as  well  as  of  action,  years  in  which  the  boy  and  the  girl  are 
striving  not  merely  to  come  into  contact  with  reality  but  to 
comprehend  it.  We  all  love  to  philosophize,  to  see  in  the  par- 
ticular fact  or  incident  something  of  general  meaning,  but  never 
is  this  interest  keener  than  in  the  middle  and  later  years  of 
youth.  It  grows  with  each  succeeding  year  in  the  pupil's  course 
in  the  high  school.  No  teacher  of  high  school  subjects  can  afford 
to  deal  with  mere  facts.  He  must  find  the  universal  in  the 
particular.1 

It  has  been  the  writer's  experience  that  many  teachers  seem  quite 
content  to  present  facts,  or  to  assign  to  pupils  selections  from  text- 
books to  be  conned  and  repeated  in  a  subsequent  recitation.  How 
many  dreary  exercises  in  history,  how  many  profitless  periods  in 
English,  in  science,  and  even  in  mathematics  are  passed  with  nothing 
of  meaning  given  to  the  subject-matter  under  consideration.  The 
teacher  seems  quite  satisfied  if  the  pupils  know  the  events  in  the  life 
of  Napoleon,  the  story  in  the  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,  the  routine  of  an 
experiment  in  chemistry,  the  demonstration  of  a  proposition  in  geom- 
etry. What  these  details  mean,  what  larger  facts  and  principles  they 
represent,  are  often  totally  ignored.  Yet  these  are  the  significant,  the 
important,  the  interesting  aspects  of  the  lesson  or  the  course. 

In  the  fourth  place,  interest  is  stimulated  to  the  extent  that  the 
learner  is  also  a  doer.    It  is  a  basal  principle  of  educational 

1  See  Chapter  XIII.,  p.  288. 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  79 

psychology  that  there  is  no  learning  without  self-activity.  The 
pupil  must  respond  to  what  he  reads  or  hears.  He  cannot  be 
merely  passive.  He  must  use  his  mind  and  his  hands  if  he  is  to 
acquire  knowledge  and  skill.  The  most  learned  and  capable 
teacher  cannot  give  his  knowledge  and  his  skill  to  his  pupils;  all 
he  can  do  is  to  stimulate  them  to  learn  and  to  direct  them  in 
their  learning.  Self-activity  is  not  only  the  most  interesting 
method  of  learning;  it  is  the  only  successful  method  of  learning. 

Many  teachers  seem  surprised  that  pupils  do  not  improve  through 
repetition.  They  make  no  progress  week  in  and  week  out.  They 
show  the  same  faults,  the  same  lack  of  comprehension,  the  same  im- 
perfections in  skill,  although  they  have  been  told  and  told  again  the 
true  facts,  the  proper  methods  of  work,  the  correct  technique.  The 
difficulty  is  that  they  have  merely  been  told.  They  have  really  done 
nothing  themselves.  To  read  a  page,  even  to  commit  it  to  memory, 
is  not  to  master  it.  The  meaning  must  be  thought  out  and  in  some 
way  applied.  There  are  four  stages  in  learning, — first,  general  read- 
ing of  the  material  for  orientation;  second,  passrVe  study  of  the  facts 
and  ideas;  third,  active  direction  of  the  mind  in  the  selection  of  and 
emphasis  on  the  significant  facts,  and  fourth,  reconstruction  of  the 
materials  studied  in  terms  of  the  learner's  own  thinking.  Unfortu- 
nately many  pupils  never  progress  beyond  the  second  stage,  and 
many  teachers  have  not  sufficient  understanding  of  the  problem 
and  skill  in  instructing  their  pupils  to  show  them  the  proper  methods 
of  study. 

In  the  fifth  place,  interest  in  the  last  analysis  is  a  personal 
matter.  The  pupil  is  interested  only  in  those  things  that  concern 
him  in  some  way,  either  from  a  purely  selfish  point  of  view,  or 
from  that  of  his  wider  sympathies  and  understandings.  If  he 
sees  the  bearings  of  a  course  of  study  on  what  he  wishes  to  do 
either  immediately  or  in  the  near  future,  it  becomes  of  value  for 
him.  This  interest  need  not  be  narrowly  practical.  It  may  be 
an  interest  in  his  own  intellectual  improvement.  He  may  study 
an  uninteresting  subject  because  he  needs  to  master  it  in  order 


So  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

to  study  something  else  that  he  desires  to  know,  or  because  he 
believes  that  it  will  cultivate  his  mind.  He  will  further  be  inter- 
ested in  those  matters  that  concern  others  in  so  far  as  he  is  able 
to  put  himself  in  the  place  of  those  concerned.  He  will  never 
be  interested  in  something  that  lacks  for  him  narrowly  personal, 
or  more  broadly  human  values. 

It  is  a  perfectly  proper  question  for  the  pupils  to  ask,  "What  good 
will  this  subject  do  me?"  If  the  teacher  believes  that  a  subject  is 
worth  while,  he  should  be  able  and  willing  to  tell  the  pupil  why  it  is 
worth  while  for  him.  Further  than  this  the  teacher  should  have  in 
mind  in  teaching  his  subject  the  needs  of  the  pupil,  rather  than  the 
logic  of  the  subject.  No  subject  can  be  taught  merely  as  a  subject; 
it  must  be  taught  to  someone,  and  in  terms  of  the  needs  of  the  learner. 

As  we  have  already  said,  teachers  often  make  a  mistake,  particu- 
larly young  teachers  fresh  from  college,  of  thinking  of  the  content  of 
their  subject  as  the  great  thing.  In  a  conversation  with  a  teacher  of 
physics  I  once  asked,  "Why  do  you  teach  this  course  entirely  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  college  entrance  requirements,  when  the  major- 
ity of  your  pupils  do  not  go  to  college,  and  when  there  are  many 
things  that  they  would  be  interested  to  know,  and  which  would  be 
helpful  for  them  that  you  cannot  touch  upon  when  you  follow  out  in 
detail  the  college  requirements?"  And  this  was  the  reply, — "I  be- 
lieve that  the  only  way  to  teach  physics  is  from  the  standpoint  of 
its  scientific  development,  as  worked  out  in  the  college  entrance  re- 
quirements. I  cannot  sacrifice  the  subject  to  suit  the  needs  of  these 
pupils.  Let  the  few  who  can  benefit  by  it  as  it  should  be  taught  get 
the  benefit;  I  do  not  feel  responsible  for  the  others."  Such  a  reply  as 
this  makes  me  feel  that  what  we  need  in  our  schools  is  less  worship  of 
the  subject  and  a  broader  humanism. 

(c)  In  the  smoothly  running  class  the  teacher  is  the  master. — 
In  the  preceding  pages  we  have  considered  the  well-disciplined 
class  from  the  standpoint  of  the  pupils'  activities  and  interests. 
These  center  around  the  teacher  as  the  controlling  and  dom- 
inating influence.    The  teacher  controls  not  by  physical  force, 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  8 1 

but  by  what  is  vaguely  called  his  personality.  What  this  per- 
sonality consists  in  from  the  standpoint  of  the  pupil  we  have 
pointed  out.  The  pupil  has  a  rather  definite  notion  of  the  teacher 
that  he  likes;  an  equally  clear  notion  of  the  teacher  that  he  dis- 
likes. We  have  seen  that  the  well-liked  teacher  must  have 
"good-nature;"  he  must  be  cheerful,  pleasant,  enthusiastic, 
sympathetic,  patient,  and  possessed  of  a  sense  of  humor.  But 
to  be  good-natured  is  not  enough.  These  qualities  alone  do  not 
constitute  an  ideal  teacher  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  pupil. 
He  must  be  absolutely  fair,  and  administer  strict  justice.  Fur- 
ther than  this  he  must  know  his  subject  and  have  some  skill  in 
teaching  it;  and  he  must  at  all  times  be  the  master  of  the  situa- 
tion. Every  teacher  should  strive  to  be  liked  by  his  pupils,  for 
if  he  is  liked  by  them  he  will  have  little  trouble  in  discipline. 
There  will  be  no  positive  and  intentional  disorder.  Inattention 
and  minor  disorders  will  be  checked  by  a  look  or  a  word.  If 
the  pupils  know  what  the  teacher  wishes  they  will  try  to  do  it. 
There  are  a  few  general  principles  that  every  teacher  who  wishes 
to  be  well  liked  by  his  pupils  should  keep  in  mind.  Some  of 
these  are  as  follows: — 

Cultivate  a  genuine  sympathy  with  your  pupils,  don't  try  to 
assume  it.  In  this  you  cannot  successfully  make  believe.  If 
you  have  no  real  interest  in  your  pupils,  they  will  soon  detect 
the  fact.  You  cannot  fool  them,  even  if  you  fool  yourself.  To 
gain  this  sympathy  you  must  strive  to  understand  the  nature  of 
boys  and  girls,  if  you  have  forgotten  yourself  what  that  nature  is. 
You  must  try  to  find  out  how  their  minds  work;  what  they 
think  and  feel;  what  their  hopes  and  ambitions  are.  Talk  with 
them  individually  when  you  have  an  opportunity.  If  they  fail 
in  their  work,  try  to  find  out  the  reason,  and  seek  to  help  them. 
By  striving  to  understand  them  and  to  help  them  they  will  come 
to  understand  you,  and  in  this  way  a  mutual  sympathy  will  be 
created,  a  sympathy  that  will  be  genuine  and  lasting. 

Do  not  let  your  sympathy  run  away  with  you.    If  a  pupil  has 


82  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

been  delinquent  in  his  work  or  in  his  conduct,  hold  him  ac- 
countable. The  kind  teacher  is  looked  up  to;  the  "  easy  teacher  " 
is  generally  despised.  Do  not  let  a  pupil  unjustly  appeal  to 
your  good  nature  or  fool  you.  The  teacher  who  is  hoaxed  and 
cajoled  is  held  in  contempt. 

Do  not  attempt  to  gain  favor  by  being  undignified.  You 
cannot  be  on  the  same  level  with  your  pupils,  neither  do  they 
wish  you  to  be.  You  may  be  their  adviser  and  their  model,  you 
cannot  be  their  chum.  Resist  the  impulse  to  use  slang,  to  talk 
as  they  talk,  to  act  as  they  act.  In  their  social  functions  you 
must  be  with  them,  but  in  a  very  true  sense  you  cannot  be  "of 
them;,,  on  the  athletic  field  you  may  be  an  interested  spectator, 
but  you  cannot  be  a  contestant  or  a  leader  in  the  cheering;  in  the 
classroom  you  should  always  be  good-natured,  but  you  cannot 
laugh  whenever  your  pupils  laugh,  just  to  show  your  sense  of 
humor,  for  much  of  their  laughter  is  silly. 

Be  patient  but  not  procrastinating.  You  should  not  always 
restrain  yourself.  You  must  sympathize  with  stupidity  and 
folly,  but  you  must  do  what  you  can  to  remove  them. 

Cultivate  initiative  on  the  part  of  the  class,  but  do  not  sur- 
render your  control.  Let  your  pupils  know  what  you  think,  and 
what  you  believe  to  be  right.  When  there  is  doubt  be  frank  to 
admit  it,  but  be  sure  of  those  things  that  you  ought  to  know. 
Be  positive. 

Finally,  have  courage.  Meet  every  situation  resolutely,  with 
a  firm  voice  and  a  vigorous  manner.  Youth  admires  courage, 
respects  action,  reverences  mastery.  When  you  have  once 
determined  what  to  do  never  hesitate.  Be  master  of  yourself 
and  you  will  be  master  of  the  class. 


CHAPTER  V 

DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL. — DIRECT  CONTROL 

The  Problem  of  Direct  Disciplinary  Control  is  Likely  to 
Arise  at  Times  even  under  the  most  Favorable  Conditions - 

Although  the  efficient  teacher  as  a  rule  governs  his  class  for  the 
most  part  by  indirect  means,  there  are  occasions  when  the  ques- 
tion of  direct  disciplinary  control  may  arise,  even  under  the  most 
favorable  conditions.  The  fact  has  already  been  commented 
on  that  many  pupils  enter  the  high  school  and  continue  for  some 
time,  often  to  the  end  of  their  course,  without  an  earnest  and 
serious  purpose.  This  makes  it  impossible  for  the  teacher  to 
exact  from  all  the  high  quality  of  work  that  insures  industry  and 
studious  attention.  For  this  reason  the  American  high  school 
teacher  must  at  times  make  special  and  determined  effort  to 
secure  reasonable  attention  and  proper  behavior.  On  such 
occasions  it  happens  that  good  order,  which  should  be  merely 
the  incident  of  good  teaching,  is  forced  upon  the  teacher  as  the 
chief  problem  that  he  has  to  face  in  the  conduct  of  his  class.  Not 
infrequently  the  novice  in  teaching,  finds  that  the  question  of  the 
control  of  his  class  is  a  matter  of  vital  importance,  and  his 
success  or  failure  may  largely  depend  on  how  well  he  can  keep 
his  pupils  in  hand. 

Types  of  Disciplinary  Problems.— (a)  The  incipiently  dis- 
orderly class. — The  form  of  disorder  most  often  met  with  is  that 
of  the  generally  restless  and  inattentive  class.  Here  there  is  no 
positive  attempt  at  disorder.  The  attitude  of  the  pupils  is 
negative,  there  is  considerable  restlessness  and  some  whispering. 
Under  such  circumstances  the  quality  of  work  done  is  invariably 
inferior.    There  is  also  always  the  danger  that  such  a  class  will 

83 


•4 


84  INTRODUCTION   TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

soon  reach  the  point  where  it  will  be  entirely  beyond  the  control 
of  the  teacher. 

A  concrete  example  of  a  class  of  this  sort  will  make  more  evident 
the  serious  character  of  the  situation.  The  instance  is  taken  from  a 
class  in  English  history  in  a  city  high  school  of  a  thousand  pupils. 
The  observer  reports, — "In  this  class  the  discipline  was  poor.  In  the 
first  place  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  seating  of  the  pupils  had  a  good 
deal  to  do  with  the  disorder.  They  were  spread  out  over  a  large 
room  making  concentration  of  attention  extremely  difficult,  if  not 
impossible.  Where  two  boys  were  seated  near  each  other  they 
laughed,  paying  no  heed  to  what  was  going  on  in  the  way  of  the  les- 
son, at  least.  When  the  pupils  were  separated,  they  busied  them- 
selves for  the  most  part  with  something  outside  of  the  class  work, 
often  reading  books  and  newspapers,  and  sometimes  idly  marking  on 
sheets  of  paper,  or  looking  out  of  the  window,  apparently  into  vacant 
space.  There  were  four  girls  in  the  class.  These  laughed  and  talked 
occasionally  across  the  aisle  while  someone  else  was  reciting.  Usually 
the  teacher  devoted  too  long  a  time  to  the  pupil  whom  she  was  ques- 
tioning. The  rest  of  the  class  derived  no  benefit  from  this,  as  far  as 
I  was  able  to  perceive,  spending  the  time  in  moving  about  in  their 
seats,  smiling,  raising  desk  covers,  etc.  The  single  effort  to  check 
this  sort  of  a  thing  occurred  when  the  teacher  waited  until  one  boy 
stopped  whispering  to  his  neighbor.  The  only  purpose  this  served 
was  to  arouse  the  laughter  of  the  rest  of  the  class.  In  less  than  a 
minute  he  had  resumed  his  general  inattentive  and  indifferent  at- 
titude." 

(b)  The  actively  disorderly  class. — A  class  that  begins  with 
incipient  disorder  as  a  rule  soon  becomes  consciously  and  ac- 
tively disorderly.  Laughing  and  talking  are  likely  to  continue 
for  most  of  the  hour;  there  are  passing  of  notes,  kicking  and 
punching  of  one's  neighbors  and  other  varieties  of  "horse  play." 

An  observer  of  a  class  in  French  writes, — "There  were  twenty  in 
the  class,  eleven  boys  and  nine  girls, — and  the  boys  spent  practically 
the  whole  recitation  period  in  what  seemed  to  be  a  more  or  less  de- 


DISCIPLINE   IN   THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  85 

liberate  attempt  to  make  trouble  for  their  mates  and  for  the  teacher. 
There  were  loud  whispering,  shuffling  of  chairs,  and  'fooling,'  none  of 

which  Miss seemed  to  have  the  courage  even  to  try  to  stop, 

although  I  believe  she  must  have  seen  most  of  what  was  going  on; 
she  must  have,  it  was  so  obvious.  Her  attitude  seemed  to  invite  dis- 
order. She  sat  at  her  desk  for  the  most  of  the  hour;  her  voice  was 
poor,  and  she  spoke  fast  and  rather  indistinctly.  Her  manner  was 
listless  and  spiritless.  She  asked  her  questions  solely  to  the  pupil 
reciting,  ignoring  the  rest  of  the  class  completely,  even  to  the  extent 
of  apparently  not  noticing  the  pranks  of  two  boys  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  room.  She  seemed  to  be  entirely  out  of  touch  with  her 
pupils;  resorted  continually  to  mild  sarcasm,  and  seemed  to  have  no 
conception  of  her  office  beyond  that  of  merely  'hearing'  individual 
pupils  recite.  There  was  practically  nothing  taught  during  the  entire 
period.  The  class  seemed  outside  of  the  pale  of  her  interest  and 
control." 

(c)  The  aggressively  disorderly  class. — Under  extreme  condi- 
tions the  class  is  not  only  in  active  disorder,  but  it  is  aggressively 
organized  to  antagonize  and  "break  up "  the  teacher.  There  are 
all  sorts  of  disturbance,  shuffling  and  stamping  of  feet,  cat-calls, 
groans,  throwing  of  chalk  and  erasers,  scuffling,  banging  of  desk 
covers,  and  the  like.  Here  is  displayed  not  merely  a  spirit  of 
restlessness,  and  carelessness,  but  an  attitude  of  positive  an- 
tagonism toward  the  teacher.  Such  a  class  has  passed  com- 
pletely beyond  the  control  of  the  teacher,  who  is  helpless  under 
the  circumstances  and  who  cannot  hope  to  do  anything  of  value 
until  order  has  been  reestablished. 

An  observer  of  wide  experience  describes  such  a  class  in  a  medium- 
sized  high  school  in  which  in  general  the  discipline  was  good.  The 
trouble  was  confined  to  a  large  class  taught  by  an  inexperienced 
teacher.  The  observer  says, — "It  was  a  first  year  class  in  English, 
numbering  forty-two  pupils.  The  instructor  was  a  young  man  who 
had  specialized  as  a  graduate  student  in  the  subject  he  was  teaching, 
and  had  taken  advanced  courses  in  the  department  of  education  at 


86  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

one  of  our  leading  universities,  but  had  had  no  practical  courses  in 
the  art  of  teaching,  and  had  had  no  previous  experience.  He  lacked 
tact,  vigor  and  courage.  He  apparently  had  no  comprehension  of 
the  pupils'  point  of  view,  or  any  conception  of  how  to  make  the  sub- 
ject interesting  or  vital.  There  was  no  attempt  to  stimulate  thought, 
or  to  bring  out  anything  in  the  lesson  except  a  few  of  the  dryest  facts 
supposed  to  have  been  conned  by  rote  for  the  day's  assignment. 

"The  result  of  such  a  combination  was  easy  to  foresee.  Given  a 
lesson  that  had  in  itself  a  little  interest,  an  instructor  who  had  no 
conception  of  how  to  awaken  any  interest  that  might  possibly  be 
found,  who  had  a  decidedly  weak  personality,  no  apparent  concep- 
tion of  instructional  skill,  and  finally  an  excessively  large  class  of 
young  people,  who  were  seeking  some  outlet  for  their  unutilized 
energies,  and  there  could  be  but  one  ultimate  outcome.  The  pupils 
could  not  be  said  to  whisper;  they  talked  aloud,  and  they  talked  most 
of  the  time.  There  were  added  to  this  the  shuffling  of  feet,  the  bang- 
ing of  books  on  the  desks,  frequent  cat-calls,  and  occasional  groans, 
varied  by  the  throwing  of  paper  wads  and  chalk,  and  at  least  in  one 
instance,  an  eraser.  Pupils  who  were  called  upon  to  recite  did  so  with 
evident  reluctance.  They  replied  to  most  of  the  questions  with  a 
'don't  know,'  and  in  two  instances  pupils  when  called  upon  refused 
to  rise  from  their  seats,  simply  saying  that  they  were  not  prepared. 
No  urging  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  could  induce  them  to  stand  or 
answer  questions  put  to  them.  One  boy  was  absolutely  insolent. 
When  told  by  the  teacher  that  he  should  remember  a  rule  of  grammar 
that  he  constantly  violated  he  replied  with  a  sneer,  that  he  couldn't 
keep  such  stuff  in  his  mind ;  he  had  other  things  to  think  of. 

a  Thus  the  period  of  forty-five  minutes  dragged  its  slow  length  along 
and  finally  came  to  an  end.  It  had  been  absolutely  wasted;  worse 
than  wasted,  for  not  only  had  nothing  of  positive  value  been  taught, 
but  much  of  negative  worth  had  been  learned.  What  a  training  in 
disorder,  and  disrespect  for  authority  that  one  period  furnished; 
what  a  menace  to  the  orderly  control  of  the  entire  school;  what  danger 
for  the  future  of  those  young  people  who  were  soon  to  arrive  at  the 
years  of  full  responsibility  and  assume  the  duties  of  American  citizen- 
ship. It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  this  instance  there  was  slight  transfer 
of  practice  effects,  and  that  the  training  in  disorder  was  chiefly  con- 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  87 

fined  to  this  one  class  and  that  it  will  not  spread  to  disorder  in  the 
school,  in  the  home,  and  in  the  future  lives  of  the  pupils." 

(d)  The  disorderly  pupil. — Problems  of  discipline  are  very 
largely  class  problems,  problems  that  concern  groups  of  in- 
dividuals rather  than  single  pupils.  When  a  class  as  a  whole  is 
well  disposed  and  has  the  fashion  of  docility  established,  in- 
dividual pupils  are  not  likely  to  give  much  annoyance.  How- 
ever, at  times  it  happens  that  there  are  pupils  who  seem  to  be 
little  influenced  by  the  group  attitude  and  who  constitute  in- 
dividual problems,  to  be  dealt  with  as  isolated  and  special  cases. 
The  least  serious  of  these  specific  cases  is  the  disorderly  pupil^ 
Such  cases  range  in  degree  from  the  pupil  with  wandering  atten- 
tion, through  the  restless,  the  careless,  the  over-zealous  pupil 
to  the  giggling  girl,  the  egoistic  pupil  (the  "smart  Alec,"  who 
likes  to  show  off)  and  the  mischievous  pupil.  Each  one  of  these 
types  constitutes  a  distinct  problem.  Perhaps  the  most  common 
is  the  over-zealous  pupil  who  is  always  eager  to  take  part  in  the 
recitation;  who  is  constantly  raising  his  hand,  speaking  out  when 
a  question  is  asked  or  another  pupil  is  reciting,  and  often  making 
comments  to  his  neighbors  concerning  the  matter  under  con- 
sideration. Such  a  pupil  has  an  excellent  attitude  as  a  rule.  He 
is  thoroughly  interested  in  his  work,  and  his  attention  is  on  the 
topic  before  the  class.  However,  his  interruptions  are  a  dis- 
turbance to  the  orderly  progress  of  the  recitation,  and  sooner  or 
later  are  likely  to  cause  disciplinary  troubles  from  other  mem- 
bers of  the  class. 

"The  chief  trouble  that  I  have  experienced  in  my  discipline  this 
year,"  writes  a  beginning  teacher,  "is  from  pupils  who  are  always 
breaking  in  when  I  am  asking  questions,  or  when  others  are  reciting. 
These  pupils  are  interested  in  the  work,  and  they  are  among  the 
brightest  in  the  class,  but  I  must  constantly  keep  them  in  check,  if 
I  am  to  get  on  with  the  lesson.  I  thought  at  first  that  it  would  be 
wrong  to  check  their  enthusiasm,  but  I  soon  found  that  the  work  was 


88  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

not  progressing  as  it  should,  and  that  I  could  not  cover  my  lesson 
as  planned.  Further  than  this,  the  interruptions  were  often  resented 
by  the  pupils  who  were  reciting,  and  also  certain  members  of  the  class 
who  were  not  so  eager  about  the  work  as  were  the  pupils  who  originally 
started  the  fashion  of  making  comments  when  not  called  upon,  took 
advantage  of  the  situation  to  speak  out,  as  far  as  I  could  judge  merely 
for  the  'fun  of  it.'  I  soon  found  that  my  control  of  the  class  was 
being  lost,  and  I  had  no  alternative  but  to  require  in  general  that 
pupils  should  not  speak  unless  they  had  received  permission  from 
me  to  do  so.  I  have  not  quite  eliminated  the  tendency,  but  it  is 
under  reasonable  control  at  present,  and  the  discipline  has  greatly 
improved  in  consequence." 

The  egoistic  pupil  generally  gives  trouble  in  two  ways.  At 
times,  like~~the  over-zealous  pupil,  he  breaks  into  the  orderly 
conduct  of  the  recitation.  In  his  case,  however,  it  is  done  with 
a  conscious  attempt  to  show  what  he  knows,  or  to  correct  some 
mistake  of  a  fellow  pupil,  or  if  possible,  of  the  teacher.  He  is 
not  so  much  interested  in  the  work  as  he  is  in  himself.  The 
egoistic  pupil  becomes  a  more  serious  source  of  trouble  when  he 
tries  to  "show  off"  in  the  class,  and  to  thus  get  the  approval  of 
his  mates.  One  favorite  method  is  to  make  ludicrous  state- 
ments, and  to  assume  comical  attitudes.  Such  a  pupil  is  never 
really  happy  unless  he  gets  a  laugh  from  the  class. 

"I  never  realized  what  a  problem  in  discipline  really  was,"  writes  a 
teacher  of  experience,  "until  Jim  came.  He  was  a  lanky,  over-grown, 
red-headed  boy  of  fifteen,  a  natural  comedian,  and  greatly  admired 
by  his  mates.  He  loved  to  show  off,  but  he  didn't  really  need  to  make 
a  serious  effort.  The  tones  of  his  voice,  the  attitudes  that  he  struck, 
the  grimaces  that  he  made,  were  all  good  comedy.  Jim's  natural 
talents  in  this  direction  were  so  great  that  he  has  since  gone  on  the 
stage,  and  has  made  a  success.  Perhaps  the  worst  thing  about  the 
whole  situation  was  that  Jim  was  always  good-natured,  and  I  did 
not  have  it  in  my  heart  to  be  severe  with  him,  especially  when  he  did 
something  that  made  me  want  to  laugh,  just  as  heartily  as  the  class 


did,  an< 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  89 


lid,  and  this  happened  not  infrequently.  Nevertheless,  I  found  that 
I  had  to  call  a  halt  on  Jim's  pranks;  if  I  had  not  I  should  soon  have  had 
the  worst  disciplined  class  in  the  school.  I  never  had  another  case 
just  like  Jim's.  I  have  had  boys  who  wanted  to  show  off  and  tried 
to  be  funny,  but  these  were  as  a  rule  inartistic  in  their  attempts  to 
raise  a  laugh.  I  had  little  difficulty  in  putting  them  in  their  proper 
place." 

The  mischievous  pupil  tries  to  make  trouble  on  the  sly.    He  fcj 
delights  in  doing  things  when  the  teacher  is  not  looking,  and    *"~ 
often   develops   an   exasperating   degree   of   cunning.     When 
detected,  or  called  to  account,  he  generally  assumes  an  air  of 
injured  innocence. 

The  writer  recently  observed  a  typical  case  of  this  sort  in  a  class 
in  geometry  which  he  was  visiting.  The  boy  in  question  sat  in  the 
rear  of  the  room.  He  was  a  meek,  pale,  and  inoffensive  looking  youth, 
and  when  the  eye  of  the  teacher  was  on  him  he  was  a  model  of  good 
behavior  and  attention,  but  when  the  teacher  turned  away  her  gaze, 
then  he  was  instantly  on  the  alert  to  make  some  kind  of  disturbance. 
A  favorite  device  was  to  begin  a  low  humming,  which  he  ingeniously 
controlled  in  such  a  way  that  the  teacher  did  not  seem  to  be  able  to 
detect  its  source.  At  times  he  would  drum  on  the  underside  of  his 
desk,  occasionally  he  would  flick  bits  of  paper  at  other  pupils,  with 
an  astonishing  accuracy  of  aim,  and  on  one  occasion  he  used  a  small 
pocket  lens  to  focus  a  ray  of  sunlight  on  the  back  of  the  neck  of  the 
girl  in  front  of  him.  The  teacher  for  the  most  part  seemed  to  be  en- 
tirely ignorant  that  a  disturbance  was  going  on,  but  the  class  were 
well  aware  of  what  the  boy  was  doing,  and  they  gave  much  more 
attention  to  him  than  to  the  lesson. 

The  giggling  girl  is  a  common  source  of  disturbance  in  classes 
composed  of  pupils  of  the  high  school  age.  There  is  generally  no 
positive  attempt  on  the  part  of  such  pupils  to  create  disorder. 
They  are  at  the  "  silly  age,"  and  giggling  is  a  spontaneous  ex- 
pression that  is  extremely  difficult  to  control.  Generally  it  does 
not  develop  into  a  serious  disciplinary  problem  when  there  are 


90  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

but  one  or  two  pupils  in  the  class  who  are  of  this  type.  However, 
four  or  five  tittering  girls  together  may  seriously  menace  the 
orderly  conduct  of  any  class. 

The  careless  pupil  is  at  times  the  source  of  much  annoyance 
to  the  teacher.  He  walks  heavily  down  the  aisle,  jostling  against 
pupils,  brushing  books  from  desks,  and  making  a  great  clatter. 
He  slams  down  his  desk  cover,  drops  his  books,  is  awkward  and 
naively  comical.  Usually  he  is  boorish,  and  lacking  in  good 
manners. 

"I  believe  I  spent  more  time  in  attempting  to  teach  Walter  how 
to  walk  quietly  about  the  room,"  a  teacher  recently  said  to  me,  "  than 
I  did  in  teaching  the  class  German.  Whenever  he  went  to  the  board 
he  moved  as  ponderously  as  an  elephant,  with  much  more  noise, 
and  with  much  less  grace.  Before  the  term  was  over,  I  had  learned 
never  to  ask  him  to  leave  his  seat  except  under  extreme  necessity. 
But  he  could  not  be  quiet,  even  when  seated.  He  piled  his  books  on 
the  top  of  his  desk  in  a  most  disorderly  fashion,  and  generally  knocked 
all  of  them  on  the  floor  a  half-dozen  times,  during  the  recitation.  At 
length  I  made  it  a  rule  that  he  must  never  have  more  than  one  book 
on  his  desk  at  a  time.  There  were  other  ways,  however,  in  which 
he  could  make  a  disturbance  when  seated,  such  as  leaning  so  heavily 
against  the  back  of  his  chair  that  he  broke  it,  letting  his  desk  cover 
fall  on  all  possible  occasions,  taking  out  the  ink  well  and  upsetting  the 
ink,  and  to  cap  the  climax  lolling  about  in  his  seat  until  he  actually 
fell  out.  Fortunately,  this  made  him  just  a  little  ashamed,  and  from 
that  time  on  he  began  to  show  some  improvement,  but  he  is  still  my 
big  single  problem  in  discipline.  I  do  not  think  that  he  intends  to 
be  in  disorder.    He  is  naturally  clumsy." 

(e)  The  pupil  in  rebellion-  The  pupil  who  has  tendencies 
toward  disorder  is  to  be  found  in  most  schools  and  in  the  ma- 
jority of  classes,  though  in  the  well-disciplined  school  he  has  no 
opportunity  to  give  vent  to  these  tendencies  and  he  remains 
docile  and  reasonably  attentive  on  most  occasions.  The  pupil 
in  open  or  in  hidden  rebellion  against  school  authority  and  class 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  91 

discipline  is  an  exception.  He  often  goes  to  school  under  com- 
pulsion; he  has  no  interest  in  his  work;  he  not  infrequently  has  a 
grudge  against  the  principal  or  some  teacher.  His  attitude  is 
hostile,  and  is  often  due  to  improper  home  training,  bad  com- 
panions, or  harsh  and  unsympathetic  teachers.  He  is  at  times 
sulky  and  obstinate,  less  often  openly  unruly  and  wilfully  dis- 
obedient, occasionally  impudent,  insulting  and  defiant.  One 
of  the  least  disturbing  forms  of  incipient  or  open  rebellion  against 
school  authority  as  far  as  the  teacher  is  concerned,  but  one  which 
demands  vigorous  treatment  on  the  part  of  the  principal  is 
truancy.  A  boy  who  detests  his  school  work,  or  who  finds  the 
outside  world  particularly  attractive,  is  likely  to  turn  his  back 
on  school  tasks  and  seek  every  opportunity  to  escape  them. 

Quite  often  truancy  is  a  phase  of  the  "gang"  spirit.  Boys  go  off 
in  groups  on  "expeditions."  Some  principals  find  that  this  is  closely 
connected  with  cigarette  smoking  and  even  more  pronounced  and 
dangerous  forms  of  viciousness.  At  times  we  find  the  isolated  truant, 
the  one  who  habitually  absents  himself  from  school,  but  goes  alone, 
as  in  the  following  example: — "My  dear  Mr.  ,  At  your  re- 
quest I  am  writing  this  letter  telling  of  my  truancy.  Monday,  Oc- 
tober 25  th,  I  started  out  to  school  on  my  wheel.  When  I  was  a  little 
further  than  the  race  tracks  on  Broad  Street  the  front  tire  blew  out. 
I  walked  home  with  the  wheel  and  it  being  late  and  I  having  no  excuse 
decided  to  stay  out  just  for  the  day.  I  went  down  city  to  the  Nickel 
and  the  Bijou.  There  was  no  one  with  me  all  day.  I  then  came 
home.  Tuesday,  October  26th,  I  went  to  the  Empire.  I  stayed  down 
city  the  rest  of  the  day.  There  was  no  one  with  me  all  day.  I  was 
afraid  to  tell  my  father  that  I  stayed  out  and  I  didn't  want  to  write 
my  own  excuse.  Wednesday,  October  27th,  I  went  down  town  and 
stayed  there  until  two  o'clock.  Then  I  came  home  and  went  to  the 
Palace  Theatre  which  is  right  at  the  head  of  our  street.  No  one  was 
with  me.  Thursday  and  Friday  was  teachers'  institute.  Monday, 
November  1st,  I  had  a  bad  cold  and  was  told  to  stay  home  in  the 
house  which  I  did.  Tuesday,  I  went  to  the  city  and  then  to  the 
Empire.    I  stayed  down  town  until  about  three  o'clock  and  then 


92  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

came  home.  There  was  no  one  with  me.  Wednesday,  November  3rd, 
I  went  to  the  Bijou  and  the  Nickel.  There  was  no  one  with  me.  I 
then  came  home.  Thursday,  November  4th,  I  went  to  the  Nickel. 
I  loafed  around  and  then  came  home.  There  was  no  one  with  me. 
Friday,  November  5th,  I  went  to  the  city  and  loafed  around  till  two 
o'clock  then  I  came  home,  and  went  to  the  Palace.  There  was  no 
one  with  me.    Respectfully  yours, " 

The  defiant  and  insulting  pupil  is  a  source  of  great  danger  and  is  a 
constant  menace  to  the  discipline  of  the  teacher.  Fortunately  such 
a  pupil  is  rare.  One  instance  of  this  type  is  that  of  a  spoiled  boy  who 
has  a  very  high  opinion  of  himself,  and  who  holds  the  school  and  its 
teachers  in  almost  open  contempt.  In  the  classroom  he  laughs,  talks, 
and  does  as  he  pleases.  He  commits  all  sorts  of  petty  infractions  of 
discipline,  and  when  reprimanded  he  assumes  a  bold  attitude.  He 
is  the  leader  of  a  gang,  and  takes  great  pleasure  in  showing  that  he 
is  superior  to  the  ordinary  rules  of  classroom  conduct.  In  the  cor- 
ridors he  makes  unnecessary  noise,  and  openly  tries  to  annoy  the 
teachers  in  charge.  On  one  occasion,  when  threatened  with  expul- 
sion by  a  teacher,  he  said, — "No  one  dares  to  put  me  out  of  this 
school;  my  father  has  influence  on  the  school  committee,  and  I  will 
see  that  you  lose  your  job  if  you  attempt  to  have  me  removed." 
» Constant  reprimands  and  punishments  have  had  very  little  effect  in 
controlling  this  pupil.  On  one  occasion  he  was  suspended  for  several 
months,  but  he  came  back  again,  with  the  same  rebellious  and  defiant 
attitude.  The  essence  of  the  trouble  in  his  case  lies  to  a  considerable 
extent  in  the  fact  that  he  was  never  taught  in  the  home  to  assume  an 
attitude  of  subordination  and  proper  respect  for  authority. 

Another  pupil  in  the  same  school  who  was  openly  defiant  and  re- 
bellious finally  stated  that  the  reason  for  his  attitude  was  that  he  was 
compelled  by  his  father  to  go  to  school.  What  he  wished  to  do  was 
to  work,  and  he  thought  that  he  might  finally  be  expelled  if  he  con- 
tinued in  disobedience.  Another  pupil,  a  girl,  was  hostile,  not  to  the 
school  as  a  whole,  but  to  one  teacher,  for  the  reason  that  she  felt  that 
this  teacher  had  dealt  with  her  in  an  unfair  way.  As  she  expressed 
her  feelings  to  the  principal,  she  "had  it  in"  for  that  particular 
teacher,  and  intended  to  cause  all  the  trouble  that  she  dared  to  in 
his  classes. 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  93 


The  writer  has  investigated  a  considerable  number  of  cases 
of  pupils  who  are  clearly  at  odds  with  the  school  and  has  found 
all  to  fall  under  one  of  the  three  above  types.  The  fault  is  due  either  * 
to  an  extremely  egoistic  nature,  developed  and  accentuated  by  a 
faulty  home  training,  to  total  lack  of  interest  in  the  school  work  and 
a  positive  desire  to  leave  school,  or  to  unwise  treatment  on  the  part 
of  some  teacher  or  principal,  treatment  that  seems  to  the  pupil  arbi- 
trary, harsh,  and  unjust. 

(f)  The  vicious  pupil. — In  this  class  are  found  pupils  with 
various  kinds  of  bad  habits  (of  whom  the  habitual  cigarette 
smokers  are  the  most  numerous),  thieves,  petty  gamblers,  liars, 
deliberate  and  wilful  cheats,  and  obscene  and  sexually  immoral 
pupils.  The  most  drastic  punishment  is  visited  on  pupils  of  this 
last-named  type,  because  of  the  great  social  danger  of  their 
presence.  The  cheat  is,  as  a  rule,  not  dealt  with  in  a  sufficiently 
severe  manner.  In  fact  cheating  is  in  some  instances  looked 
upon  as  so  trivial  a  fault  that  many  pupils  do  not  recognize  that 
certain  minor  forms  of  dishonesty  are  wrong.  For  this  reason, 
it  is  perhaps  unfair  to  class  the  dishonest  pupil  as  vicious,  al- 
though his  conduct  as  such  may  warrant  this  characterization. 

The  most  common  form  of  dishonesty  is  that  of  handing  in  work 
as  original  on  which  the  pupil  has  received  assistance.  This  ranges 
from  getting  help  from  parents  and  school-mates  to  the  actual  copying 
of  themes  and  similar  written  work.  Cheating  in  examination  is  also 
common.  Most  pupils  feel  that  they  have  a  right  to  cheat,  if  they  are 
in  danger  of  not  passing  the  test,  and  few  pupils  consider  that  they 
are  doing  wrong  when  they  help  another  to  get  through.  Indeed,  it 
is  a  point  of  honor  with  pupils  to  give  aid  to  others  when  they  are  > 
asked,  even  if  they  would  not  receive  aid  themselves.  The  extent  to 
which  these  forms  of  cheating  occur  is  so  great  that  it  calls  for  vigorous 
measures  to  suppress  the  practice.  The  schools  as  a  rule  have  not  - 
taken  any  positive  stand  in  the  matter,  and  punishments  are  either 
not  administered  at  all,  or  are  of  such  a  mild  character  as  to  have 
little  effect.    Occasionally  the  habitual  and  confirmed  cheat  is  dealt 


94  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

with  in  a  more  rigorous  manner,  as  shown  by  the  following  disci- 
plinary report,  which  is  typical, — "This  girl  cheated  or  attempted  it 
twice  in  arithmetic  and  had  to  repeat  the  course.  She  cheated  in 
shorthand  and  was  given  zero  for  that  test.  Her  mother  was  called. 
She  has  cheated  again  in  arithmetic.  She  seems  incorrigible  in  this 
respect."  This  girl  was  finally  sent  to  the  office  of  the  superin- 
tendent. 

Types  of  Disciplinary  Control.— The  question  of  indirect 
disciplinary  control  has  already  been  discussed  at  length  in  the 
preceding  chapter.  As  has  been  seen,  it  consists  in  so  conducting 
the  school  and  the  class  that  disorder  and  disobedience  do  not 
have  a  chance  to  develop.  Obviously  some  of  the  methods  sug- 
gested as  means  of  indirect  control  can  be  used  with  effect  when 
actual  disciplinary  problems  arise.  These  methods,  however, 
will  not  be  discussed  again  at  this  time.  Among  the  types  of 
direct  control  the  following  are  the  most  important: — 

(a)  Control  through  discussion. — It  is  generally  agreed  by 
teachers  and  disciplinary  officers  that  in  dealing  with  individual 
offenders  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  talk  matters  over  with 
the  pupil.  This  serves  several  purposes.  In  the  first  place  the 
pupil's  point  of  view  is  obtained,  misunderstandings  are  some- 
times cleared  up,  and  the  real  nature  of  the  offence  is  better 
understood  by  both  the  pupil  and  the  officer.  Further  than  this 
the  frank  statement  of  a  fault  is  often  in  itself  a  wholesome  cor- 
rective. We  have  here  an  illustration  of  the  "psychology  of 
confession." 

Again  discussions  between  teachers  and  pupils  at  times  bring 
about  mutual  understandings  and  establish  personal  friendships. 
The  pupil  hesitates  to  antagonize  the  teacher  when  he  is  made  to 
feel  that  his  instructor  is  not  a  mere  task-master  but  a  real  hu- 
man being. 

An  example  of  this  method  of  treatment  that  brought  satisfactory 
results  is  the  case  of  a  girl  in  the  freshman  class  of  a  city  high  school 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  95 

who  was  stubborn  and  negative  in  her  entire  attitude  toward  her 
work.  When  called  upon  she  was  surly,  and  even  when  she  seemed 
to  know  the  topic  for  recitation  she  would  reply  to  questions  only  in 
the  briefest  way.  Often  she  refused  to  recite  at  all.  The  teacher  of 
general  science  overheard  the  girl  saying  that  the  subject  meant 
nothing  to  her  and  that  she  did  not  intend  to  prepare  her  lessons. 
The  teacher  talked  with  the  girl  in  private,  tried  to  explain  to  her 
what  the  subject  signified,  found  that  the  girl  had  interests  that 
linked  themselves  up  with  certain  aspects  of  the  subject,  and  in  the 
end  helped  to  make  clear  to  the  girl  many  of  the  difficulties  that  she 
had  found  in  the  study.  There  was  a  decided  improvement  in  this 
pupil's  work  from  this  time  on,  not  only  in  the  subject  of  general 
science,  but  in  her  other  studies  also.  Later  in  her  course,  the  girl 
did  well.  She  said  that  the  reason  for  her  change  of  attitude  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  she  found  someone  who  seemed  to  take  a  genuine 
interest  in  her  and  who  really  wanted  to  help  her. 

Another  example  of  the  value  of  establishing  personal  relations  and 
finding  common  interests  is  of  a  boy  who  had  been  disorderly  in  the 
class  on  various  occasions.  The  teacher  tried  the  usual  method  of 
keeping  the  offender  after  school,  but  without  any  permanent  result. 
On  one  occasion,  however,  he  took  the  opportunity  to  talk  with  the 
boy  about  his  life  outside  of  school,  and  discovered  that  the  boy  was 
greatly  interested  in  boating  and  fishing,  sports  in  which  the  teacher 
himself  happened  to  be  an  expert.  The  older  man  told  the  youth 
some  of  his  experiences,  and  in  ten  minutes  a  basis  of  good  feeling 
and  mutual  understanding  had  been  established  that  solved  the 
entire  disciplinary  problem  as  far  as  this  teacher  and  this  pupil  were 
concerned. 

Teachers  should  not  make  the  mistake  of  talking  too  much 
with  pupils  about  their  conduct.  Above  all,  in  these  discussions 
there  should  not  be  prolonged  argument  or  debate.  Neither  does 
it  follow  that  nothing  more  should  be  done  than  to  talk  matters 
over.  At  times  most  vigorous  measures  must  follow,  although  at 
other  times  all  that  is  necessary  is  a  frank  understanding.  The 
pupil  often  sees  where  he  is  at  fault,  and  makes  an  honest  at- 
tempt to  correct  his  misconduct.    When  he  takes  this  attitude 


96  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

there  is  no  immediate  call  for  further  measures.  However,  a 
repetition  of  the  original  offence  cannot  be  permitted  to  pass 
without  more  positive  action. 

In  some  schools  it  is  the  practice  of  those  in  charge  of  the  discipline 
to  require  that  a  pupil  who  has  been  sent  to  the  disciplinary  officer 
should  make  a  careful  statement  in  writing  of  the  nature  of  his  mis- 
conduct. This  statement  is  to  be  submitted  to  the  teacher  who  has 
reported  the  pupil,  and  it  is  then  to  be  returned  with  the  teacher's 
comments  on  the  case.  In  this  manner  the  issue  involved  is  brought 
definitely  to  the  attention  of  the  pupil.  Further,  the  statement  can 
be  put  on  file  and  used  as- a  basis  for  later  reference,  if  the  offence  is 
again  committed,  or  any  question  concerning  it  arises.  As  a  rule 
pupils  do  not  care  to  have  a  record  of  their  misconduct  preserved  in 
permanent  form,  and  are  not  likely  to  consider  it  a  trivial  matter  to 
be  sent  to  the  disciplinary  officer  under  such  circumstances. 

While  it  is  a  rule  than  can  safely  be  adhered  to  in  general  that 
disciplinary  troubles  with  individual  pupils  should  be  dealt  with, 
in  part  at  least,  through  discussion,  it  is  a  question  how  far  the 
teacher  should  discuss  the  problem  of  order  before  the  class  as 
a  whole.  It  is  certain  that  no  teacher  should  " lecture"  or  scold 
his  class.  The  teacher  who  always  talks  about  discipline,  and 
seldom  acts  is  sure  to  fail.   Most  pupils  respect  the  teacher  whose 

.  words  are  relatively  few,  and  whose  deeds  are  certain.  The 
teacher  who  constantly  finds  fault  and  nags  his  pupils  likewise  is 
sure  tp  have  poor  discipline.  In  a  short  time  a  spirit  of  antag- 
onism will  be  directed  against  him,  and  when  this  attitude  exists 
his  usefulness  with  his  pupils  is  at  an  end.  No  teacher  should 
make  it  a  practice  of  telling  the  class  what  he  intends  to  do,  if 
the  pupils  misbehave.    It  is  not  wise  to  suggest  the  possibility  of 

*  disorder  in  advance.  Further,  if  a  teacher  is  unwise  enough  to 
threaten  his  pupils,  there  are  sure  to  be  a  few  bold  spirits  who 
will  "take  the  dare."  There  are  occasions,  however,  when  a 
straightforward  discussion  with  the  class  about  certain  matters 
of  general  conduct  is  wholesome  and  desirable.    In  such  dis- 


DISCIPLINE   IN   THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  97 

cussions  the  teacher  must  appeal  to  the  reason  and  the  better 
sentiment  of  the  class  in  such  a  way  as  to  obtain  its  approval  and 
sympathy. 

One  of  the  most  effective  instances  of  such  an  appeal  that  has  come 
to  the  writer's  attention  was  that  made  by  a  novice  in  an  ungraded 
school  in  New  Hampshire.  The  school  was  a  building  of  one  room 
with  twenty  pupils.  On  the  first  day  all  went  well,  but  on  the  second 
there  were  signs  that  the  pupils  were  beginning  to  try  the  teacher  out. 
On  the  third  day  the  evidences  of  disorder  were  on  all  sides.  There 
were  whispering,  throwing  of  paper  wads,  passing  of  notes,  and  gen- 
eral inattention.  The  teacher  saw  that  the'school  was  rapidly  getting 
beyond  her  control  and  resolved  on  positive  action.  At  the  close  of 
the  recess  period,  the  pupils  were  told  with  great  solemnity  on  taking 
their  seats  to  put  aside  all  their  work.  The  teacher  then  said  that 
she  had  something  of  great  importance  to  say  to  them.  She  told  them 
in  detail  what  they  had  been  doing,  naming  individual  offenders  and 
their  specific  acts,  and  added, — "Now  I  can  be  a  pleasant  teacher  or 
a  cross  teacher.  We  can  have  a  happy  time  this  term,  or  we  can  have 
a  miserable  time;  we  can  learn  a  great  deal,  or  we  can  learn  little. 
Which  shall  it  be?"  The  teacher  remained  with  the  school  for  the 
entire  year,  but  she  never  again  was  called  upon  to  refer  to  the  sub- 
ject of  disorder.  From  that  time  on  she  was  in  complete  control  of 
the  situation. 

Another  instance  of  appeal  to  the  class  was  even  more  radical,  and 
came  just  in  time  to  save  a  desperate  situation.  The  class  was  large, 
thirty-five  boys  in  the  second  year  class  of  a  technical  high  school. 
The  teacher  was  a  young  man  fresh  from  college,  and  his  pupils  con- 
sidered him  fair  game.  Before  the  end  of  the  first  week  it  had  become 
a  typically  disorderly  class  of  the  aggressive  type.  The  teacher  was 
at  his  wit's  end  and  when  the  disorder  was  at  its  worst  he  banged  his 
book  down  on  his  desk,  for  in  no  other  way  could  he  secure  attention, 
and  said, — "Don't  you  think  it  is  pretty  mean  of  you  fellows  to  treat 
me  in  this  way?  You  know  that  I  am  a  new  teacher.  I  think  you 
ought  to  be  fair  and  give  me  a  chance.  Remember  you  are  thirty- 
five  to  one."  The  appeal  proved  effective.  There  was  no  more 
serious  disorder  in  that  class. 


98  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

(b)  Control  through  counter-attraction: — This  is  a  principle 
of  great  importance,  not  only  in  dealing  with  control  of  pupils  in 
the  school,  but  with  various  problems  of  social  betterment  and 
reform.  An  undesirable  activity  is  prevented  or  removed  by 
placing  it  in  competition  with  an  activity  that  is  entirely 
harmless  and  at  the  same  time  extremely  attractive.  It  is  true 
that  children  and  adults  alike  desire  to  do  the  thing  that  meets 
social  approval,  if  it  makes  an  appeal  to  their  interests,  habits,  or 
instinctive  tendencies.  In  the  previous  chapter  many  of  the 
methods  of  indirect  control  that  were  discussed  are  based  on  this 
principle  of  the  motivation  of  human  conduct.  Thus  truancy 
may  be  checked  by  making  school  work  attractive,  or  through 
an  appeal  to  the  vocational  interest. 

A  striking  instance  of  the  complete  reform  of  a  disorderly  class  by 
an  appeal  to  the  fundamental  interest  that  made  the  disorder  stale 
and  profitless  is  furnished  me  by  a  teacher  of  experience  and  thorough 
efficiency.  He  writes, — "During  my  second  year  of  teaching,  I  was 
confronted  with  a  very  difficult  problem  in  discipline  that  for  the  time 
threatened  my  undoing.  I  had  lived  through  my  first  year  as  a  high 
school  teacher,  and  had  in  a  mild  way  succeeded.  I  had  experienced 
the  usual  troubles  of  a  beginner,  and  among  them  I  had  had  my  share 
of  questions  of  conduct  and  order,  though  none  of  them  were  serious. 
I  fondly  imagined  at  the  beginning  of  my  second  year  that  all  my 
troubles  lay  behind  me,  but,  alas!  this  was  far  from  the  case.  My  real 
difficulties  began  when  I  was  assigned  a  class  in  American  history, 
composed  principally  of  boys,  most  of  them  of  a  low  grade  of  ability 
and  nearly  half  of  them  repeaters.  I  used  the  ordinary  recitation  and 
text-book  method,  the  old  dry-as-dust  procedure  that  still  charac- 
terizes so  much  of  our  teaching.  With  a  class  of  ability  and  intellec- 
tual interests  I  probably  should  have  made  a  seeming  success,  though 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  it  would  have  been  more  apparent  than 
real,  but  with  this  class  there  was  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  I  was 
an  utter,  complete,  and  miserable  failure.  I  taught  the  pupils  prac- 
tically nothing,  they  refused  to  be  taught,  and  on  the  whole  I  think 
they  were  right  in  refusing  the  husks  of  mental  pabulum  that  I  of- 


DISCIPLINE   IN   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL  99 

fered  them.  Even  then  I  should  have  had  no  serious  trouble  (serious 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  principal  and  most  supervising  authorities) 
had  not  my  discipline  gone  to  pieces.  The  class,  having  no  interest  in 
the  work,  sought  to  find  some  extrinsic  form  of  entertainment,  and 
they  found  it  in  creating  disorder  of  a  very  serious  nature.  I  might 
have  ignored  their  indifference  and  their  stupidity,  but  I  could  not 
ignore  their  behavior,  and  if  I  had,  surely  the  school  authorities  would 
not  have  overlooked  the  matter.  I  realized  before  a  week  had  passed 
that  I  had  to  do  something,  and  do  it  soon.  I  tried  some  of  the  usual 
methods  of  punishment,  but  they  were  dismal  failures.  I  was  in  a 
panic,  and  the  class  knew  it. 

"Then  a  thought  came  to  me  which  finally  saved  the  situation.  ^ 
It  was  radical,  particularly  in  those  days.    It  consisted  simply  in 
changing  my  entire  method  of  teaching.    I  gave  up  hearing  lessons,    ' 
and  set  the  class  to  work  on  matters  of  local  history  that  I  connected 
more  or  less  definitely  with  the  text.    We  were  in  the  Colonial  Period 
and  the  town  in  which  I  was  teaching  was  an  old  New  England  city 
full  of  traditions,  and  possessing  much  of  early  historical  significance. 
This  was  extremely  fortunate  for  me,  for  it  gave  me  a  basis  to  work  1 
from.    I  began  by  organizing  the  class  into  groups  as  committees  to 
investigate  certain  topics  and  make  reports  to  their  mates.    I  will  not 
go  into  detail,  but  I  soon  got  their  interest  and  cooperation.   In  a  short 
time  I  had  most  of  the  boys  and  all  of  the  girls  working  like  Trojans. 
They  were  eager  to  find  out  things  for  themselves,  they  took  pride   t 
in  telling  to  the  class  what  they  had  found  and  they  became  really 
enthusiastic  in  the  discussions  that  developed.    I  soon  had  a  class 
in  which  the  problem  of  discipline  no  longer  existed.    I  also  had  a 
class  of  enthusiastic,  efficient  workers.    Not  one  of  the  class,  no,  not 
a  single  repeater  failed  to  pass  the  course.    There  was  not  one  who  did 
really  poor  work.    I  have  taught  many  classes  in  history  since,  but 
never  one  that  I  enjoyed  more  than  this  class." 

(c)  Control  through  regulation  of  the  environment. — This  is  the 
principle  of  so  controlling  the  external  conditions  that  an  un- 
desirable tendency  does  not  have  the  opportunity  to  express 
itself.  The  environment  is  sterilized,  so  to  speak,  and  the  germs 
of  disobedience  have  no  chance  to  develop.    Proceeding  on  this 


IOO  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

theory,  parents  and  social  reformers  seek  to  guard  the  young 
person  from  evil  influence  by  removing  temptations  from  his 
path,  or  by  so  supervising  him  that  he  does  not  have  the  oppor- 
tunity to  indulge  in  wrong  doing.    Under  such  conditions,  bad 
habits  have  no  chance  to  become  established.    However,  there 
is  no  certainty  that  when  conditions  are  changed  and  there 
i  are  incentives  and  opportunities  for  wrong  behavior,  the  in- 
dividual will  resist  them.    It  is  here  that  this  method  of  control  is 
most  likely  to  fail.    It  develops  no  independence  on  the  part 
I  of  the  young  person,  and  is  not  conducive  to  "character  build- 
*  ing."     In  many  instances,  however,  it  is  the  most  effective 
method  of  dealing  with  misconduct,  and  the  wise  teacher  will 
employ  it,  but  always  with  discretion. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  vice  of  dishonesty  in  school 
work  and  the  desirability  of  holding  it  in  check.  It  is  difficult  to 
create  ideals  of  honesty;  it  is  not  safe  to  give  pupils  opportunities  to 
cheat.  Under  such  conditions  this  habit  quickly  becomes  estab- 
lished. Pupils  who  if  left  to  their  own  devices  would  never  hand  in 
work  on  which  they  had  received  improper  assistance,  soon  find  that 
their  associates  are  cheating  and  reason  that  the  teacher  has  no  right 
to  permit  this  sort  of  thing,  if  only  a  few  have  the  advantage.  In  a 
short  time  all  have  caught  the  infection,  and  cheating  becomes  a  class 
and  a  school  habit.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher  carefully  to  super- 
vise tests  and  examinations;  to  make  it  difficult  for  the  pupils  to  re- 
ceive and  give  aid.  The  teacher  should  refuse  to  accept  written  work 
and  exercises  done  outside  of  the  class  when  there  is  clear  evidence, 
as  there  often  is,  that  this  work  is  not  original.  When  it  is  impossible 
for  the  work  to  be  scrutinized  and  supervised  it  should  not  count  for 
credit.  The  pupils  should  be  made  to  understand  that  there  is  no 
advantage  in  dishonesty.  For  this  reason  tests  should  frequently  be 
given  to  determine  real  ability  and  progress.  If  the  exercises  done 
outside  of  the  class  in  language  and  in  mathematics  were  considered 
merely  as  aids  to  the  pupil  in  his  learning  and  not  as  exercises  to  be 
marked;  if  class-standing  and  ability  were  measured  entirely  by 
work  and  tests  done  under  the  supervision  of  the  teacher,  there 


DISCIPLINE   IN   THE  HIOH   SCHOOL  iOx 

would  be  no  object  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  in  receiving  improper 
assistance.1 

The  discipline  of  the  classroom  is  largely  dependent  on  the  alert- 
ness of  the  teacher,  who  so  controls  the  room  that  there  are  few  oppor- 
tunities for  individuals  to  misbehave.  It  is  generally  true  that  the 
teacher  who  does  not  know  what  is  going  on  has  a  disorderly  room. 
On  the  other  hand  the  teacher  who  sees  what  is  taking  place  has 
created  an  environment  where  the  opportunities  for  misconduct  are 
few.  Pupils  as  a  rule  will  not  misbehave  when  they  know  that  the 
teacher  is  observing  them. 

(d)  Control  through  catharsis. — This  is  the  principle  of  allowing 
all  tendencies  of  individuals  to  have  expression.  It  is  the  theory 
of  sowing  wild  oats.  Some  believe  that  the  best  way  to  get  rid  of 
an  undesirable  impulse  is  to  give  it  full  swing.  In  this  way,  it  is 
urged,  the  individual  will  be  purged  of  his  wrong  desires.  If  a 
boy  longs  to  play  truant,  let  him  run  away  from  school  or  home, 
and  he  will  soon  be  glad  to  come  back;  if  he  is  curious  about 
cigarette  smoking  give  him  a  chance  to  experiment  with  it,  and 
perhaps  he  will  find  it  less  attractive  than  he  had  thought. 
It  is  argued  that  the  best  way  to  make  an  act  desirable  is  to 
prohibit  it. 

It  can  be  seen  that  this  principle  of  control  is  exactly  the 
opposite  of  the  one  previously  discussed.  The  former  says, — 
"Make  the  environment  of  such  a  nature  that  opportunities  to 
do  wrong  are  reduced  to  a  minimum,"  while  the  latter  urges, — 
"Arrange  conditions  so  that  the  individual's  tendencies  shall 
not  be  checked  unduly."  Most  will  agree  that  while  the  prin- 
ciple of  inhibition  at  times  fails,  that  of  catharsis  seldom  proves 
effective.  Generally  the  surest  way  to  make  a  boy  a  truant  is  to 
allow  him  to  play  truant.  Cigarette  smoking  commonly  ends 
in  the  establishment  of  a  habit;  not  in  the  checking  of  an  impulse. 
However,  there  is  doubtless  a  certain  modicum  of  truth  in  con- 

1  For  a  further  discussion  of  this  topic  see  Chapter  VIII.,  p.  166  and  Chap- 
ter XVII.,  p.  363. 


102  INTRODUCTION   TO   HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

tention,  and  the  writer  has  known  a  few  instances  in  which  in  a 
minor  way  this  method  of  control  has  been  used  to  some  ad- 
vantage. 

A  teacher  reports  that  on  several  occasions  when  her  class  in  Eng- 
lish has  been  unusually  silly  she  has  found  it  possible  to  bring  them 
back  to  a  serious  frame  of  mind  by  giving  them  an  exercise  in  writing 
limericks  and  nonsense  jingles.  Another  teacher  has  furnished  me 
with  the  following  instance: — He  says, — "A  boy  gave  me  no  end  of 
trouble  by  trying  to  make  a  clown  of  himself  in  the  class.  Ordinary 
methods  of  discipline  worked  only  temporary  reforms.  Finally,  I 
asked  him  to  stay  after  school  one  day  and  required  him  to  rehearse 
his 'stunts' before  me.  I  kept  him  at  them  until  he  got  enough.  He 
has  shown  little  disposition  to  do  them  for  the  benefit  of  the  class 
since." 

It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  this  second  instance  of  discipline 
by  the  exercise  of  an  undesirable  activity  is  not  a  pure  illustration  of 
inhibition  through  catharsis.  Doubtless  the  boy  would  have  con- 
tinued to  show  off  before  the  class  indefinitely  if  free  rein  had  been 
given  to  him  to  exercise  his  inclinations  there.  When,  however,  he 
was  required  to  perform  before  the  teacher,  this  so  changed  conditions 
that  his  conduct  seemed  to  him  to  be  no  longer  desirable.  It  was  not 
free  expression  of  his  tendencies  that  corrected  them,  but  expression 
under  new  and  undesirable  conditions.  The  same  is  true  of  an  in- 
stance cited  by  Bagley  in  his  book  on  Class  Discipline.1  He  writes, — 
"A  schoolroom  was  so  constructed  that  the  ceiling  was  supported  by 
iron  pillars  surmounted  by  Corinthian  capitals.  Once  when  the 
teacher  was  absent  from  the  room  for  a  few  moments,  a  boy  yielded 
to  the  impulse  which  had  often  possessed  him,  namely, — to  'shin 
up'  one  of  the  pillars.  When  the  teacher  returned,  she  found  the  boy 
perched  at  the  summit  with  an  arm  and  one  leg  over  the  corner  of 
the  capital.  She  remarked  pleasantly  upon  his  exploit  and  told  him 
to  stay  there.  It  was  fun  for  a  few  moments,  but  the  unnatural  posture 
quickly  became  uncomfortable,  and  it  was  not  very  long  before  the 
adventurous  lad  was  longing  for  permission  to  come  down.    He  saw, 

1  See  p.  202. 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  IO3 

however,  that  the  joke  was  turned,  and  said  nothing.  Finally,  when 
the  teacher  saw  that  the  discomfort  had  approached  agony,  she  re- 
lented and  told  the  boy  to  take  his  seat.  The  climbing  of  pillars,  it 
is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  was  not  repeated." 

(e)  Control  through  modification  of  behavior.  It  is  frequently 
possible  to  inhibit  undesirable  forms  of  conduct  by  turning  the 
activities  of  the  pupil  into  new  and  desirable  channels.  This  is 
an  important  principle  of  social  control,  as  well  as  of  class  man- 
agement. The  boy  who  desires  to  play  truant  may  find  his 
tendencies  satisfied  by  field  excursions,  or  other  forms  of  school 
activities  carried  on  out  of  doors.  The  girl  who  longs  for  ro- 
mance may  find  a  safe  vent  for  her  desires  in  writing  romantic 
stories,  or  in  reading  the  works  of  George  Eliot.  In  this  con- 
nection we  find  that  it  is  the  function  of  creative  and  appreciat- 
ive art  to  provide  through  the  imagination  safe  and  desirable 
forms  of  behavior  as  substitutes  for  unsafe  and  unworthy  kinds 
of  conduct.  There  are  numerous  examples  of  the  working  out 
of  this  principle  of  disciplinary  control  in  the  school.  A  few 
will  be  sufficient  to  make  definite  its  nature. 

A  class  in  history  contained  several  pupils  who  were  so  eager  to 
take  part  in  the  general  discussions  that  the  orderly  progress  of  the 
class  period  was  seriously  hindered.  The  teacher  did  not  wish  to  dis- 
courage interest,  but  he  realized  that  something  must  be  done  to 
prevent  the  confusion  that  was  resulting.  He  hit  upon  the  plan  of 
requiring  the  pupils  to  submit  in  writing  questions  and  comments  on 
the  progress  of  the  lesson.  These  were  left  in  a  question  box  at  the 
end  of  the  class  period,  and  at  the  next  recitation  the  most  important 
were  taken  up  and  considered.  This  method  was  effectual  in  every 
way.  When  required  to  write  out  questions,  the  pupils  framed  them 
in  a  more  thoughtful  and  careful  manner,  and  the  benefit  derived  from 
the  discussion  of  the  significant  ones  was  one  of  the  most  important 
parts  o  further  than  this  there  grew  up  among  the  various 

members  of  the  (lass  a  wholesome  rivalry  in  the  attempt  of  the 
pupils  to  write  out  questions  that  would  be  worth  consideration. 


104  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

Finally,  while  only  a  few  individuals  took  part  in  the  oral  questions 
and  comments,  all  shared  in  the  written  exercises. 

The  principal  of  a  high  school  found  a  serious  disciplinary  problem 
on  his  hands  because  a  few  of  the  older  boys  with  tendencies  toward 
leadership  had  organized  the  younger  members  into  a  number  of 
gangs  that  by  their  conduct  threatened  the  good  name  of  the  school 
and  the  community.  He  solved  the  problem  completely  by  interest- 
ing these  same  boys  in  legitimate  school  organizations.  One,  who  had 
considerable  athletic  ability,  developed  a  very  creditable  track  team, 
another  became  the  leader  in  a  debating  club,  while  a  third  helped  in 
forming  a  school  orchestra. 

A  teacher  of  chemistry  found  difficulty  in  controlling  the  behavior 
of  two  of  the  pupils  in  one  of  his  laboratory  sections  until  he  hit  upon 
the  device  of  making  them  "class-foremen."  They  were  capable  and 
intelligent  pupils  and  he  assigned  to  them  the  duty  of  distributing 
and  collecting  the  day's  materials,  and  of  showing  some  of  the  poorer 
pupils  how  to  set  up  their  apparatus  and  conduct  their  experiments. 
In  this  way  he  provided  the  boys  with  work  that  was  well  worth 
while  for  them,  developed  their  initiative  and  self-control.  At  the 
same  time  he  freed  himself  from  certain  routine  duties,  and  found 
more  time  to  supervise  the  work  of  the  class.  One  of  these  boys  has 
since  specialized  in  chemistry  in  his  college  course.  He  states  that 
he  owed  his  original  interest  in  the  subject  to  this  teacher  who  found 
for  him  a  worth-while  activity  in  a  subject  which  up  to  that  time  had 
appealed  to  him  only  as  an  opportunity  for  boyish  pranks. 


CHAPTER  VI 

DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH    SCHOOL. — THE  FUNCTION  OF 
PUNISHMENT 

Punishment,  Although  the  Last  Resort,  is  often  a  Neces- 
sary Means  of  Class  Control. — It  is  agreed  by  most  teachers 
and  disciplinary  officers  that  definite  punishment  as  a  method  of 
securing  good  order  should  be  avoided  when  it  is  possible  to 
control  the  class  by  other  means.  Indeed,  some  have  gone  to  the 
extreme  of  saying  that  punishment  should  be  banished  from  the 
school,  since,  as  they  assert,  all  infractions  of  discipline  are  due  to 
improper  methods  of  treating  the  pupil.  Under  the  right  condi- 
tions, they  affirm,  the  unruly,  the  rebellious,  and  the  vicious 
pupil  would  be  unknown.  Such  persons  take  the  position  held 
by  certain  social  reformers  that  the  delinquent  pupil,  like  the 
criminal,  is  the  product  of  his  environment,  and  that  the  re- 
sponsibility, as  well  as  the  means  for  correction,  rests  with 
society.  In  other  words,  the  larger  social  group  of  the  com- 
munity and  the  smaller  social  group  of  the  school  should  reform 
themselves  rather  than  their  individual  members.  While  there  is 
doubtless  some  truth  in  this  contention,  the  position  taken  is 
extreme  and  impractical.  The  time  has  not  as  yet  arrived  when 
we  can  safely  do  away  with  jails,  prisons,  and  houses  of  correc- 
tion, neither  has  the  time  come  when  the  teacher  can  secure  from 
all  pupils  respect  and  obedience  by  the  methods  of  conduct- 
controls  discussed  in  the  two  preceding  chapters.  There  are 
occasions  when  punishment,  certain,  swift,  and  severe  is  the 
only  means  of  making  the  pupil  realize  that  he  must  respect  and 
obey  the  authority  established  over  him  through  custom  and  by 
law. 


Io6  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

It  may  be  true  that  there  are  no  bad  boys  in  original  nature,  but 
the  pupil  with  a  defiant  sneer  on  his  face,  with  hidden  and  vicious 
cunning  in  his  acts,  with  thieving  and  dishonest  habits,  and  with 
obscene  and  immoral  thoughts  and  conduct  exists,  whatever  the 
cause;  he  must  be  dealt  with,  wisely  to  be  sure,  but  energetically.  No 
false  sentimentality,  no  abstract  educational  or  social  theories,  can 
be  in  these  cases  a  substitute  for  action,  and  the  teacher  who  hesi- 
tates to  deal  with  such  pupils  with  vigor  is  not  doing  the  wise  thing 
nor  the  right  thing.  Whatever  else  he  may  do,  and  should  do,  he 
must  punish  such  offenders.  There  are  many  less  serious  cases,  too, 
that  require  more  than  words  of  advice  and  admonition.  As  has 
already  been  pointed  out,  discussions  should  come  first,  but  there 
must  always  be  behind  the  advice  and  the  warning  a  potential  some- 
thing that  makes  the  words  of  the  teacher  more  than  mere  words. 
Words  that  have  no  relation  to  acts  have  no  power  in  themselves  to 
change  conduct.   Words  are  mere  symbols  of  reality. 


Punishment  is  of  Two  Main  Kinds,  Natural  and  Artifi- 
cial.— When  we  think  of  punishment  we  generally  have  in  mind 
some  unpleasant  accompaniment  of  an  act  that  is  arbitrarily 
attached  to  this  act  by  the  will  of  some  individual  or  set  of  in- 
dividuals. This  is  artificial  punishment.  There  is,  however, 
another  kind  of  punishment,  some  painful  consequence  of  an 
occurrence  that  issues  of  necessity  from  it.  This  is  natural  pun- 
ishment. When  the  child  puts  its  hand  on  the  hot  stove  there 
is  the  natural  result,  a  burn,  which  is  a  punishment  for  the  act. 
W^hen  the  child  takes  the  sweets  from  the  pantry  the  natural 
result  is  the  pleasure  derived  from  the  taste  of  the  jam  and  the 
sugar.  The  pain  that  comes  from  the  slap  on  the  hands  is  an 
artificial  punishment,  having  no  necessary  connection  with  the 
child's  conduct,  but  arbitrarily  attached  to  it  by  the  mother. 

(a)  Natural  punishment  has  certain  clear  advantages  over 
artificial  punishment.  Rousseau,  Spencer  and  other  educational 
writers  and  reformers  have  recognized  certain  superior  values  in 
natural  punishment  as  compared  with  artificial  punishment,  and 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE   HIGH   SCHOOL  107 

have  advocated  it  as  the  chief,  if  not  the  only,  means  of  correct- 
ing the  child.  Let  the  young  person  come  in  contact  with  the 
world  and  learn  through  bitter  experience  to  avoid  the  dangerous 
and  the  evil.  Hence,  Emile  was  to  be  thrown  among  pick- 
pockets and  courtesans  in  order  to  find  out  for  himself  what  is 
safe  and  right.  It  was  seen  by  Rousseau  and  by  all  "  nat- 
uralists" in  education  that  in  the  last  analysis  what  makes  any 
act  desirable  or  undesirable,  right  or  wrong,  is  its  consequences. 
If  these  be  pleasurable  on  the  whole  and  in  the  long  run,  then 
they  stamp  the  act  with  approval,  if  these  be  unpleasant  or 
painful  they  stamp  it  with  disapproval,  and  it  is  consequently 
avoided.  The  fact  that  natural  punishment  is  in  and  of  itself 
genuine,  gives  it  its  chief  value.  Further,  because  it  is  genuine, 
it  is  accepted  by  the  individual  who  receives  it.  When  punished 
by  nature  we  are  apt  to  acknowledge  our  faults  and  strive  to 
correct  them,  and  with  as  good  grace  as  possible.  We  attach  to 
ourselves  the  blame  for  our  ignorance,  our  folly,  or  our  per- 
versity. We  do  not  blame  the  instrument  that  punishes  us.  It 
also  follows,  since  natural  punishment  comes  from  the  act  that  is 
punished,  that  it  is  regarded  as  inevitable.  There  is  no  chance 
to  escape.  The  individual  cannot  trust  to  the  caprice  and 
ignorance  of  others  to  avoid  his  due.  The  child  learns  that 
sometimes  the  mother  does  not  detect  him  when  he  invades  the 
pantry,  and  again  when  he  is  caught  his  punishment  may  be 
quite  perfunctory,  if  not  altogether  omitted.  However,  the 
child  has  also  learned  that  when  he  touches  the  hot  stove  the 
burn  will  surely  result.  There  is  no  chance  of  escaping  this 
punishment.  With  the  mother  the  child  can  take  a  chance,  but 
never  with  the  hot  stove.  //  is  because  natural  punishment  is 
unvarying,  certain,  and  genuine  that  it  has  obvious  advantages  over 
artificial  punishment  which  suffers  in  just  these  particulars. 

On  the  other  hand  natural  punishment  has  such  obvious  dis- 
advantages that  practical  common-sense  at  once  shows  us  that  it 
cannot  be  made  to  take  the  place  of  punishment  that  it  attached 


108  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

*  to  an  act  by  the  fiat  of  human  will.  In  the  first  place,  natural 
punishment  is  often  excessively  severe,  and  in  many  instances 
absolutely  destructive  to  the  individual.  When  we  play  with 
fire  the  natural  result  is  to  be  burned,  but  we  may  be  consumed. 
It  is  here  that  artificial  punishment  steps  in  and  prevents  the 
foolish  act  that  may  have  the  most  disastrous  consequences. 

4  Again,  natural  punishment  is  often  separated  from  the  act  that 
causes  it  by  such  a  long  period  of  time  that  the  necessary  con- 
nection between  the  initial  behavior  and  the  ultimate  result  is  not 
clearly  seen.  Indeed,  often  it  is  not  recognized  as  existing.  The 
victim  of  general  paresis  is  paying  the  full  and  awful  penalty  for 
acts  now  many  years  passed,  and  perhaps  entirely  forgotten;  yet 
neither  he  nor  his  friends  may  even  suspect  the  fact.  The 
punishment  for  him  accomplishes  no  apparent  good.  Surely, 
here  nature  is  a  poor  schoolmaster.    It  is  further  to  be  remem- 

*  bered  that  natural  punishment  is  not  necessarily  connected  with 
the  person  who  originally  committed  the  offence.  He  may 
escape  altogether,  and  in  any  case  is  likely  to  involve  the  inno- 
cent with  him.    Hence,  natural  punishment  is  not  usually  just 

*  in  the  sense  of  human  justice.  It  punishes  too  excessively  or  too 
lightly;  it  punishes  often  in  secret,  and  it  punishes  the  guiltless. 
Nobody  but  the  blindest  worshipper  of  nature  could  set  up 
natural  punishment  as  a  substitute  for  intelligent,  artificial 
punishment. 

(b)  Artificial  punishment  must  strive  to  secure  the  advantages  of 
natural  punishment,  and  at  the  same  time  avoid  its  dangers  and 
faults. — We  should  not  seek  to  do  away  with  artificial  punish- 
ment; we  should,  however,  attempt  to  make  it  simulate  natural 
punishment  in  certain  particulars.  In  the  first  place,  artificial 
punishment  should  be  freed  from  caprice.  It  should  have  the  same 
unvarying  character  that  natural  punishment  possesses.  In 
order  that  this  may  be  accomplished  the  disciplinarian  should, 
as  far  as  possible,  punish  similar  offences  in  a  uniform  manner 
r  and  make  no  exceptions  in  his  punishment.    If  the  pupil  finds 


DISCIPLINE   IN  THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  IO9 

that  he  is  punished  today  and  tomorrow  goes  free,  he  looks 
upon  the  discipline  as  a  matter  of  pure  individual  feeling  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher.  He  blames  that  teacher  for  the  punish- 
ment; he  does  not  blame  himself  for  the  act.  If  the  pupil  finds 
that  he  is  punished  while  some  other  offender  escapes,  then  he 
believes  that  the  teacher  is  "playing  favorites,"  and  he  expe- 
riences resentment  toward  the  teacher. 

Artificial  punishment  should  not  only  simulate  natural  punish- 
ment in  appearing  to  be  free  from  personal  whim,  it  should  also 
appear  as  the  inevitable  consequence  of  a  wrong  act.  The  teacher 
must  be  on  the  alert  to  detect  the  offender  and  make  sure  of  his 
punishment.  The  pupil  who  is  only  occasionally  caught  in 
misbehavior  is  quite  willing  to  take  the  chance.  If  he  is  reason- 
ably sure  of  detection  in  wrong  doing  he  will  be  careful  of  his 
conduct. 

In  order  that  artificial  punishment  may  appear  as  an  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  act,  it  is  sometimes  wise  to  state  in  advance  the 
punishment  that  is  to  be  administered  for  offences  that  are  sure  to 
occur,  and  in  any  case  it  is  desirable  for  the  pupils  to  know  what 
the  consequences  of  these  offences  are  to  be.1  In  this  way,  these 
punishments  assume  the  regularity  and  the  necessity  of  a  law  of  na- 
ture. If  the  pupil  complains  of  the  punishment  the  teacher  can  easily 
reply, — "You  knew  in  advance  what  would  happen  if  you  did  this. 
You  have  no  one  to  blame  but  yourself."  In  petty  matters  of  dis- 
cipline this  works  out  satisfactorily,  as  well  as  in  more  serious  forms 
of  misconduct,  if  the  principle  is  properly  administered.  A  concrete 
illustration  of  this  is  found  in  the  case  of  a  teacher  who  did  not  be- 
lieve in  rules  and  regulations  for  high  school  pupils.  He  finally  dis- 
covered that  the  written  work  in  English  composition  was  being 
handed  in  with  great  and  increasing  irregularity.    At  first  he  at- 

1  This  statement  is  not  to  be  taken  as  in  opposition  to  that  made  in  Chap- 
ter V.  There  it  was  said  that  the  teacher  should  not  threaten  or  scold  his 
pupils.  It  is  evident  that  such  a  procedure  does  more  harm  than  good. 
However,  there  are  certain  rules  in  respect  to  important  aspects  of  conduct 
that  may  wisely  be  stated  in  advance  of  their  infraction. 


IIO  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

tempted  to  punish  individual  offenders  when  they  were  clearly  shirk- 
ing their  work,  but  he  failed  to  announce  any  general  rule  to  apply  to 
such  cases.  The  result  was  that  the  pupils  punished  were  resentful, 
and  the  discipline  of  his  class  was  impaired.  With  a  succeeding  class 
at  the  beginning  of  the  term  he  definitely  announced  his  rules  for 
handing  in  written  work  and  stated  clearly  the  penalties  that  would 
be  exacted  in  case  of  failure  to  live  up  to  them.    He  enforced  these 

*  rules  to  the  letter,  with  the  result  that  the  work  was  done  punctually 
and  that  those  who  were  punished  accepted  the  discipline  with  good 

*  grace.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  in  laying  down  general  rules,  that 
none  should  be  made  unless  there  is  a  clear  necessity;  further,  such 
rules  and  the  punishments  for  their  infraction  should  be  moderate 
and  rational. 

In  artificial  punishment,  as  in  natural  punishment,  there  should 
be  an  obvious  relation  between  the  act  and  the  penalty.  Too  often 
the  punishment  imposed  by  the  teacher  seems  to  have  no  neces- 
sary connection  with  the  offence.  As  has  been  urged  by  Bagley, 
punishing  pupils  by  assigning  them  extra  school  tasks  is  a 
dangerous  procedure.  The  pupil  seeing  no  reason  why  he  should 
do  this  work,  begins  to  dislike  the  work,  when  he  should  be  made 
to  attach  dislike  to  the  offence.  It  is  evident  that  when  the 
pupil  does  his  work  in  a  satisfactory  manner  he  should  not  be 
compelled  to  do  more  as  a  punishment.    If,  however,  he  has 

*  failed  to  accomplish  his  task  properly,  then  the  natural  conse- 
quence is  that  he  should  be  made  to  complete  this  work. 

There  are  many  examples  of  total  or  partial  failure  in  discipline 
because  of  a  failure  of  the  teacher  "to  make  the  punishment  fit  the 
crime."  One  of  the  commonest  instances  of  this  failure  is  to  be  found 
in  punishment  for  dishonesty.  A  pupil  who  cheats  on  an  examination 
is  given  zero  on  the  test,  a  pupil  who  hands  in  a  composition  not 
his  own  is  made  to  rewrite  it.  Generally  the  punishment  ends  there. 
To  an  extent  the  punishment  is  a  legitimate  one,  but  it  fails  in  the 
fact  that  it  is  inadequate.  Dishonesty  is  a  moral  delinquency,  but 
the  punishment  merely  emphasizes  the  fact  that  the  work  done  is  in 
the  nature  of  the  case  worthless.   The  dishonest  pupil  receives  the  same 


DISCIPLINE  IN   THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  III 

punishment  that  befalls  the  pupil  who  fails  to  write  the  examination, 
or  hand  in  the  written  work.  Of  course  the  work  dishonestly  done 
cannot  be  accepted,  but  to  let  the  matter  end  here  fails  to  distinguish 
between  dishonesty  and  mere  negligence  or  incompetency.  The  dis- 
honest pupil  must  be  made  to  understand  that  he  has  committed  an 
offence  that  is  social  in  its  character  and  the  legitimate  punishment 
is  some  form  of  social  ostracism.  The  pupil  who  has  shown  that  he 
is  a  cheat  should  in  some  way  be  separated  from  the  group  for  the 
time  being  at  least.  He  should,  for  example,  be  compelled  to  do  all 
of  his  written  work  under  the  direct  supervision  of  a  teacher. 

(c)  Artificial  punishment  must  be  a  real  punishment ,  not  a 
pretense  at  punishment. — Not  infrequently  the  punishment  ad- 
ministered by  the  teacher  fails  to  accomplish  any  purpose  be- 
cause it  is  a  pseudo-punishment;  it  is  a  mere  make-believe. 
Teachers  often  go  through  the  form  of  punishing  the  offender. 
It  is  obvious  that  the  discipline  administered  must  be  a  punish- 
ment/or the  pupil  if  it  is  to  accomplish  its  purpose. 

Sending  the  offender  out  of  the  room  is  a  practice  quite  generally v 
followed  by  teachers  in  dealing  with  disciplinary  problems.  For 
many  pupils  this  is  no  punishment  at  all.  If  no  unpleasant  con- 
sequences follow  this  dismissal;  if  the  matter  merely  ends  here,  the 
dismissal  may  be  just  the  thing  that  the  pupil  wishes.  On  the  other ' 
hand,  if  dismissing  pupils  from  the  class  is  rare,  and  if  pupils  have  a 
sense  of  pride,  they  may  feel  that  this  form  of  punishment  is  a  dis- 
grace, and  the  penalty  under  such  conditions  may  be  very  severe. 
In  this  connection  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  punishment  ob- 
jectively considered  is  not  an  adequate  measure  of  its  severity.  For 
certain  pupils  a  sarcastic  remark  by  the  teacher,  though  usually  in- 
advisable, may  be  the  severest  of  penalties;  for  other  pupils  it  may 
have  no  significance. 

(d)  Artificial  punishment  must  follow  the  offence  with  as  little 
delay  as  possible. — In  animal  training  the  wrong  act  is  penalized 
at  once.  If  delayed  more  than  a  few  seconds  the  punishment 
will  probably  fail  to  be  associated  with  the  act.    It  is  also  true 


112  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

in  the  case  of  very  young  children  that  the  discipline  must  be 
immediate.  With  older  children  and  adults  it  is  possible  to 
separate  offence  and  punishment  by  a  considerable  interval,  but 
in  general,  punishment  makes  a  greater  impression  the  more 
quickly  it  follows  misconduct.  When  punishment  is  long  de- 
layed it  is  more  apt  to  be  considered  as  arbitrary  and  unjust. 
The  offence  has  "  grown  cold,"  so  to  speak. 

There  are  some  acts  of  misconduct  that  can  be  appropriately  pun- 
ished only  on  the  spot.  To  delay  punishment  in  these  cases  means 
to  do  away  with  adequate  punishment.  The  pupil  who  is  openly  im- 
pudent in  the  classroom  must  be  dealt  with  then  and  there.  The 
teacher  is  compelled  to  act  with  vigor,  and  at  once,  for  his  authority 
over  the  class  has  been  indirectly  challenged.  On  the  other  hand 
it  may  be  necessary  to  postpone  dealing  with  a  disciplinary  situation 
at  times,  either  because  the  teacher  is  not  sure  who  the  offenders  are, 
or  because  he  is  not  quite  certain  as  to  the  best  form  of  punishment. 
The  desire  to  deal  promptly  with  disorder  should  not  cause  the  teacher 
to  act  rashly.  The  young  teacher  often  fails  in  class  control  because 
he  becomes  excited,  and  "goes  up  in  the  air." 

While  it  is  generally  true  that  punishment  becomes  less  effective 
the  longer  it  is  delayed,  there  is  an  apparent  exception  to  the  ruie. 
It  has  been  found  advantageous  at  times  in  dealing  with  serious  acts 
of  misconduct  to  keep  the  culprit  in  doubt  as  to  just  what  is  to  be 
done  with  him.  In  this  case,  while  the  final  punishment  has  been 
postponed,  punishment  in  a  very  real  way  is  already  being  adminis- 
tered. The  offender  knows  that  he  has  been  detected,  he  knows 
that  he  cannot  escape  severe  discipline,  and  in  imagination  he  ex- 
periences in  many  forms  the  penalty  that  is  to  come. 

(e)  In  cases  of  school  discipline,  artificial  punishment  should 
usually  be  administered  by  the  teacher  against  whom  the  offence  is 
committed. — As  a  rule  teachers  should  seek  to  control  the  in- 
dividuals in  their  classes  themselves.  They  should  not  fall  into 
the  habit  of  sending  their  pupils  to  the  disciplinary  room  or  to 
the  principal  for  every  possible  offence.   The  teacher  who  cannot 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  II3 

control  his  classes  through  his  own  personality,  but  who  is  forced 
to  fall  back  on  another  for  such  control,  is  inevitably  weak  in 
discipline.  However,  when  any  trouble  arises  that  is  of  such  a 
serious  nature  that  the  teacher  recognizes  his  inability  to  meet  it  * 
effectively,  he  should  call  in  a  higher  authority  at  once.  Further 
than  this,  the  teacher,  particularly  the  novice,  should  not 
hesitate  to  consult  with  his  superiors  about  matters  of  discipline, 
and  obtain  advice  from  those  more  experienced  than  he. 

A  teacher  of  long  experience  who  has  always  maintained  the  best 
of  order  in  his  classes,  has  furnished  me  with  the  following  instance 
in  which  he  was  forced  to  violate  his  unvarying  rule  of  dealing  with 
all  personal  matters  of  discipline  directly:  "On  one  occasion,  when  I 
was  in  charge  of  the  boys  in  the  basement  during  their  lunch  period, 
I  noticed  a  big,  burly  fellow  who  had  given  no  end  of  trouble  to  various 
teachers  in  the  school,  kicking  a  plate  about  the  concrete  floor.  I 
stepped  up  to  him  and  told  him  to  'stop/  but  he  replied  with  a  con- 
temptuous look  and  a  sneer,  that  it  was  none  of  my  business,  and 
that  he  should  do  as  he  pleased.  The  boys  in  the  vicinity  stopped 
and  gathered  about  to  see  what  was  going  to  happen.  It  was  plainly 
imperative  that  I  should  act,  and  act  at  once.  If  I  had  followed  my 
instincts,  I  should  probably  have  used  physical  means  of  coercion. 
However,  I  was  no  match  in  strength  for  the  boy,  and  besides  cor- 
poral punishment  in  any  and  all  forms  was  forbidden  by  the  rules  of 
the  school  committee.  Happily,  I  remembered  that  this  boy  had 
only  a  few  days  before  been  removed  from  the  school,  and  that  he 
had  no  right  there.  In  fact,  he  was  a  trespasser.  I  told  him  to  leave 
the  building  at  once,  and  on  his  refusal  to  do  so,  I  spoke  to  the  janitor 
who  was  close  at  hand  and  asked  him  to  step  to  the  telephone  and 
call  the  police.  As  the  station  was  only  a  block  away,  the  boy  knew 
tha Jan  officer  would  be  on  hand  in  a  few  minutes.  He  had  thought 
to  make  capital  out  of  the  situation,  and  to  pose  in  the  minds  of  some 
of  his  fellows  as  a  bold  and  forceful  person.  In  reality  he  was  a  cow- 
ard. When  he  heard  me  speak  to  the  janitor,  the  color  left  his  face; 
he  picked  up  the  plate  and  slunk  away  into  the  street,  thoroughly 
discredited  in  the  eyes  even  of  his  former  admirers." 


114  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

The  Double  Purpose  of  Punishment.— Punishment  may  be 
either  punitive  or  corrective.  In  social  evolution  it  arose  largely 
through  the  desire  of  individuals  to  inflict  harm  and  suffering 
on  those  who  had  injured  them  or  their  friends.  The  theory 
behind  such  punishment  was  that  of  "an  eye  for  an  eye"  and 
"a  tooth  for  a  tooth."  When  punishment  was  taken  over  as  a 
social  affair  and  the  individual  element  was  largely  eliminated, 
the  punitive  notion  of  justice  still  prevailed  to  a  large  extent. 
An  individual  was  to  suffer  for  his  acts  because  they  were  wrong, 
because  they  called  for  punishment.  Gradually,  however,  an- 
other notion  of  punishment  grew  up,  namely, — that  the  jus- 
tification for  punishment  was  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  it 
restrained  the  evil  doer  and  tended  to  reform  him.  Hence, 
today  we  have  in  our  social  philosophy  the  theory  that  punish- 
ment should  be  corrective  in  its  nature.  Our  prisons  should  not 
be  places  where  the  evil  doer  suffers  unnecessarily;  they  should 
be  reformatory  institutions.  The  criminal  should  be  punished  in 
order  to  give  a  warning  to  others  and  to  protect  society.  He 
should  also  be  punished  in  such  a  way  that  he  may  be  reformed 
and  made  a  useful  member  of  society. 

With  this  theory  of  the  corrective  nature  of  punishment,  there 
can  be  no  quarrel.  However,  those  who  advocate  this  theory  in 
its  most  extreme  form  tend  to  remove  from  punishment  all  its 
moral  significance.  When  the  criminal  is  treated  merely  as  a 
foolish  man  or  a  sick  man,  when  no  personal  blame  is  attached  to 
him  for  his  deeds,  both  he  and  society  tend  to  look  upon  wrong 
doing  in  a  new  light.  In  order  to  preserve  the  very  necessary 
attitude  of  society  toward  the  criminal,  namely, — that  he  has 
done  something  which  makes  him  deserve  punishment,  we  pust 
still  attach  to  punishment  a  certain  amount  of  the  retributive 
sentiment. 

What  is  true  in  regard  to  punishment  as  a  general  means  of 
social  control  is  likewise  true  of  punishment  as  a  means  of  en- 
forcing discipline  in  the  school.    Obviously,  the  chief  reason  for 


DISCIPLINE   IN   THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  115 

employing  it  as  a  means  of  controlling  the  conduct  of  the  pupil 
is  to  correct  the  pupil  and  make  him  a  desirable  member  of  the 
school  community.  On  the  other  hand,  the  teacher  who  treats  • 
all  offences  in  a  purely  objective  way,  who  does  not  on  proper 
occasions  enforce  the  moral  aspects  of  the  situation,  has  failed  to 
emphasize  the  worth  of  right  doing  as  such,  and  the  meanness  of 
wrong  doing  in  and  of  itself. 

The  attitude  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  child  advocated  by 
the  educational  psychology  of  a  former  day  has  in  some  instances 
done  harm  in  the  control  of  the  pupil.  The  "recapitulation  theory" 
that  found  its  early  exposition  in  the  writings  of  Rousseau  and  which 
has  been  one  of  the  cardinal  principles  in  the  philosophy  of  Stanley 
Hall  and  his  followers,  saw  in  developing  child  nature  much  that 
harked  back  to  the  primitive  impulses  of  barbarous  and  savage 
peoples.  These  native  impulses  were  considered  right  because  they 
were  held  to  be  natural.  Hence  the  boy  who  stole,  lied,  and  robbed 
orchards  was  simply  manifesting  those  instincts  which  were  sanc- 
tioned by  countless  ages  of  race  experience.  The  teacher  was  told 
that  such  instincts  were  to  be  considered  as  essentially  necessary  to 
certain  stages  of  development,  and  were  not  to  be  looked  upon  as 
manifestations  of  an  evil  nature.  While  there  is  an  element  of  truth 
in  this  point  of  view  (a  truth,  however,  that  has  been  greatly  exag- 
gerated), it  by  no  means  follows  that  undesirable  behavior  is  to  be 
looked  upon  by  the  teacher  as  without  moral  significance.  It  is  well 
not  to  take  too  seriously  the  misconduct  of  youth;  we  should  not* 
consider  the  gravest  offences  as  certain  evidence  of  utter  depravity. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  important  to  make  the  pupil  feel, 
when  he  has  done  a  wrong  deed  that  he  has  committed  a  real  offence. 
The  teacher  may  make  necessary  allowances  for  the  weakness  of 
child  nature,  and  at  the  same  time  impress  the  child  with  the  gravity 
of  his  offence.  The  criticism  of  the  Child  Study  Movement  made  a 
generation  ago  by  Miinsterberg  1  was  in  part  based  upon  the  asser- 
tion that  the  teacher  in  assuming  such  an  objective  attitude  in  regard 
to  the  pupil  impaired  his  practical  attitude  toward  the  child,  a  conten- 
tion in  which  there  is  much  truth. 

1  See  Psychology  and  Life,  pp.  101-144,  particularly  pp.  129-135  (1899). 


Il6  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

Types  of  School  Punishments.— Various  methods  of  enforc- 
ing school  discipline  through  punishment  have  been  devised  and 
practiced.  Some  of  these  are  centuries  old,  while  some  are 
comparatively  new.  At  present  the  kinds  of  punishment  are 
not  numerous  and  their  severity  is  not  great  when  compared  with 
those  of  earlier  times.  The  traditional  schoolmaster  of  earlier 
days  took  pride  in  the  variety  and  ingenuity  of  the  penalties  that 
he  could  inflict.  He  governed  by  fear,  according  to  popular 
belief.  However,  there  must  have  been  many  teachers  in  former 
generations  of  kindly  nature,  like  Arnold  of  Rugby,  who  con- 
trolled those  under  them  largely  through  a  sympathetic  and 
humane  treatment. 

(a)  Corporal  punishment. — Flogging  at  one  time  was  the 
favorite  method  of  controlling  the  unruly.  According  to  tradi- 
tion the  school  teacher  must  assert  his  mastery  by  "  having  it 
out"  in  physical  combat  with  the  big  boys  of  the  district.  To- 
day corporal  punishment  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  So  seldom  is  it 
practiced  that  it  may  be  left  out  of  consideration  as  a  means  open 
to  the  teacher  in  the  high  school  for  enforcing  order.  While 
there  are  circumstances  under  which  it  might  still  prove  salutary, 
the  objections  against  it  are  so  great  and  on  the  whole  so  well 
founded  that  we  should  not  wish  to  bring  it  again  into  vogue, 
even  if  we  could.  It  is  a  safe  rule  to  lay  down  that  no  teacher 
should  ever  lay  violent  hands  on  a  boy  or  a  girl  entrusted  to  his 
charge. 

(b)  Keeping  the  pupil  after  school. — Of  all  the  punishments 
Aised  at  the  present  time  this  is  the  most  common.    All  sorts  of 

offences  are  penalized  by  requiring  the  pupil  to  report  to  the 
teacher  at  the  end  of  the  school  day,  and  to  remain  for  periods 
varying  from  a  few  minutes  to  hours.  There  is  a  good  deal  of 
diversity  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  value  of  this  method  of 
punishment.  Some  principals  believe  that  it  is  an  adequate 
means  of  dealing  with  most  offences,  indeed  with  all,  except 
those  of  the  gravest  character,  while  others  are  of  the  opinion 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  I17 

that  it  is  a  mere  makeshift  and  does  not  in  any  way  get  at  the  ^ 
root  of  the  matter.    In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  this  form  of 
punishment  is  relied  on  to  an  unwarranted  extent  in  many 
instances.     For  many  offences  it  is  not  the  natural  form  of 
punishment.    Its  arbitrary  character  is  so  obvious  to  the  pupil  • 
that  it  does  not  adequately  impress  him.    Further  than  this,  if 
constantly  repeated  it  loses  its  effect  because  the  pupil  gets 
hardened  to  it  and  comes  to  expect  it  as  a  matter  of  course.  *> 
There  is  some  virtue  in  having  a  certain  variety  to  punishment. 

The  writer  has  collected  a  hundred  instances  of  discipline,  chosen 
at  random,  in  which  keeping  the  pupil  after  school  was  used  as  the 
exclusive  or  principal  punishment.  In  this  hundred  instances  the 
following  offences  in  the  order  of  their  frequency  are  included: — Poor 
and  careless  work,  inattention,  whispering,  making  a  disturbance, 
throwing  chalk  and  paper  wads,  impudence,  giggling,  refusing  to 
recite,  truancy,  reading  a  newspaper  or  book  during  recitation,  copy- 
ing the  work  of  a  neighbor,  falsehood,  sticking  a  pin  into  the  pupil 
sitting  in  front,  signing  parent's  name  to  an  excuse  for  absence. 
The  noteworthy  facts  here  are  the  wide  range  of  offences  punished  in 
this  way,  and  the  varying  gravity  of  the  offences,  ranging  from  simple  * 
carelessness  in  the  class  work  to  serious  moral  delinquencies  such  as 
dishonesty,  truancy  and  falsehood.  Obviously  a  punishment  that  is 
administered  in  this  manner  is  seriously  at  fault  in  many  instances. 
It  is  a  well-established  principle  of  criminal  law  that  the'severity  of 
the  punishment  should  bear  a  very  close  relation  to  the  gravity  of 
the  crime,  and  that  offences  varying  greatly  in  their  nature  should 
not  be  given  identical  punishment.  It  is  further  to  be  noted  in  regard 
to  the  cases  here  cited,  that  in  a  few  instances  the  punishment  seems 
to  be  the  one  best  suited  to  the  offence,  but  in  the  majority  of  in- 
stances the  penalty  bears  no  intrinsic  relation  to  the  misdemeanor. 
For  example, — poor  work  in  the  class  seems  to  demand  preparation' 
of  the  next  day's  lesson  under  the  eyes  of  the  teacher.  The  truant, 
too,  should  receive  part  of  his  punishment  by  being  compelled  to* 
make  up  in  school  the  hours  that  he  has  missed  by  his  absence;  re- 
fusing to  recite  in  the  class  may  demand  that  the  pupil  be  required  to  J 


Il8  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

recite  outside  of  the  class  at  the  convenience  of  the  teacher.  How- 
ever, cheating,  impudence,  class  disturbance  and  similar  offences 
demand  something  more  in  the  way  of  punishment  than  keeping  the 
pupil  after  school.  Doubtless  the  main  reasons  why  keeping  the 
pupil  after  school  has  become  in  most  instances  the  chief  form  of 
discipline  are  that  this  punishment  is  relatively  easy  to  administer 
and  has  the  merit  of  being  a  real  punishment  for  most  boys  and  girls. 
In  considering  the  question  of  the  proper  ways  to  administer  this 
penalty,  the  problem  arises  as  to  whether  school  tasks  or  other  similar 
occupations  should  be  assigned  to  pupils  at  this  time.  It  seems  to 
the  writer  that  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  school  work  should 
be  required  of  the  pupil  who  is  staying  after  school  depends  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  on  the  reason  why  he  is  compelled  to  remain.  Ob- 
viously if  his  offence  has  been  something  that  directly  or  indirectly 
connects  itself  with  the  slighting  of  his  work,  then  it  is  quite  necessary 
that  he  should  make  up  this  work,  and  the  appropriate  time  to  do 
this  is  during  the  extended  school  session.  On  the  other  hand,  if  hi 
misconduct  in  no  way  involves  his  work,  then  it  is  often  best  to  make 
the  punishment  doubly  severe  by  requiring  the  pupil  to  stay  aftei 
school  with  no  occupation  to  engage  his  attention. 

(c)  Dismissal  from  the  class. — Probably  the  commonest  form 
of  punishment  employed  by  most  high  school  teachers  next  te 
requiring  the  pupil  to  remain  after  school  is  that  of  sending  th( 
offender  out  of  the  room.  As  has  been  said  above,  this  punish- 
<ment  varies  greatly  in  severity  in  accordance  with  the  general 
attitude  of  the  class  in  regard  to  it,  in  accordance  with  its  fre- 
quency, and  in  accordance  with  what  follows  the  dismissal. 
When  used  excessively  it  becomes  so  common-place  that  the 
pupils  think  little  about  it;  when  followed  by  no  further  conse- 
quences it  is  generally  weak  and  at  times  worse  than  useless. 
Some  teachers,  while  admitting  its  inadequacy,  justify  its  use  as  i 
means  of  temporarily  getting  rid  of  a  pupil  who  is  disturbing  the 
class.  When  employed  for  this  purpose  it  is  a  confession  of 
weakness  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  and  cannot  under  ordinary 
circumstances  be  justified.    It  is  a  safe  rule  to  follow  to  make 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  119 

dismissal  from  the  class  a  serious  affair  and  to  consider  it  as  ' 
preliminary  to  further  disciplinary  measures.    When  the  teacher 
takes  this  attitude  toward  it,  dismissal  from  the  class  becomes 
one  of  the  most  impressive  of  all  punishments. 

Dismissal,  like  keeping  the  pupil  after  school,  is  used  for  a  variety 
of  offences.  The  most  common  cause,  however,  according  to  the  ex- 
perience of  the  writer  is  for  cases  of  misconduct  that  involve  class  * 
disturbance.  In  fifty  cases  in  which  this  mode  of  punishment  was* 
recorded,  forty-five  were  clearly  of  this  nature.  This  fact  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  the  most  compelling  motive  of  the  teacher  in 
sending  the  pupil  from  the  room  was  to  get  rid  of  him  temporarily, 
and  would  justify  the  conclusion  that  this  form  of  punishment  is  as 
a  rule  not  well  devised  and  thought  out.  In  most  cases  in  which  it  is 
employed  it  is  probably  a  makeshift;  often  an  unwise  method  of  deal- 
ing with  a  troublesome  situation. 

(d)  Removal  of  privileges. — Another  common  form  of  punish- 
ment employed  by  teachers  is  to  deprive  the  offender  of  some 
privilege  enjoyed  by  the  pupils  as  a  whole.  In  the  elementary 
school,  for  example,  it  is  the  practice  in  some  localities  to  close 
the  afternoon  session  fifteen  minutes  earlier  than  the  scheduled  * 
time,  for  those  whose  behavior  has  been  satisfactory  during  the 
day.  The  pupils  who  have  failed  in  some  portion  of  their  work 
or  who  have  been  disorderly  are  required  to  remain  until  the 
end  of  the  day.  While  in  a  sense  this  is  merely  keeping  the 
pupils  requiring  discipline  after  school,  the  emphasis  is  different, 
and  many  principals  favor  this  punishment  for  minor  offences. 
A  common  form  of  discipline  in  the  high  school  is  to  refuse  to 
those  pupils  who  are  low  in  their  class  standing  or  who  are  un-  * 
satisfactory  in  their  conduct  permission  to  play  on  athletic 
teams  and  participate  in  the  activities  of  school  organizations. 
In  many  instances  this  is  an  extremely  effective  method  of 
punishment.  In  some  instances  teachers  have  removed  priv- 
ileges from  entire  classes  because  of  the  unsatisfactory  conduct 
of  certain  members. 


120  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

A  case  in  point  is  that  of  a  teacher  of  English  who  allowed  the 
pupils  in  her  classes  in  Shakespeare  to  dramatize  in  a  simple  manner 
various  scenes  from  the  plays  that  they  were  reading.  This  they 
enjoyed  exceedingly.  However,  a  few  members  of  the  class  during 
the  less  interesting  parts  of  the  lesson  were  inattentive  and  in  mild 
disorder.  These  pupils  she  failed  to  bring  under  satisfactory  control, 
and  at  last  she  adopted  the  expedient  of  placing  the  correction  of 
their  offences  in  the  hands  of  the  class  itself.  She  explained  to  the 
members  that  the  progress  of  the  work  was  being  seriously  hindered 
by  a  few  who  were  not  willing  to  keep  proper  order,  and  that  in  the 
future  there  would  be  no  time  for  dramatization  unless  conditions  were 
changed.  She  said  that  she  would  discontinue  this  phase  of  the  work 
until  the  disorderly  members  of  the  class  were  willing  heartily  to 
cooperate  with  the  majority  and  keep  a  proper  attitude  at  all  times. 
She  added  that  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  class  to  make  all  of  its  mem- 
bers conduct  themselves  as  they  should.  The  pupils  were  impressed. 
There  was  no  further  trouble,  and  in  a  few  days  the  privilege  was 
restored. 

It  should  be  pointed  out  in  this  connection  that  disciplining  the 
class  as  a  whole  for  the  faults  of  a  few  must  be  done  with  extreme 
vcare  and  tact.  When  the  offence  is  something  that  can  be  easily 
remedied  by  the  class  as  a  whole,  and  when  the  individual  members 
of  the  class  see  the  justice  of  the  teacher's  position,  the  effect  is  ex- 
cellent, as  in  the  instance  just  given.  When,  however,  the  class  has 
"the  attitude  that  the  acts  of  a  few  are  not  their  immediate  concern, 
and  when  further  they  have  little  influence  in  controlling  the  conduct 
of  their  mates,  the  innocent  pupils  are  apt  to  feel  that  they  are  being 
unjustly  treated,  and  under  these  conditions  a  spirit  of  resentment 
and  antagonism  toward  the  teacher  is  almost  certain  to  arise. 

(e)  Isolation  of  the  of  ending  pupil. — A  punishment  that  is 
closely  related  to  that  just  discussed  is  the  isolation  of  the 
offender.  He  is  entirely  removed  from  the  group,  as  for  exam- 
ple, when  he  is  no  longer  allowed  to  attend  the  class,  or  he  re- 
mains with  his  mates,  but  is  treated  in  such  a  way  that  he  is 
clearly  set  apart  from  them.  The  extreme  forms  of  this  punish- 
ment are  suspension  and  expulsion.    These  radical  measures  are 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  121 

used,  however,  only  in  a  few  cases  when  the  misconduct  is 
unusually  grave  or  oft  repeated.  According  to  Dr.  Montes- 
sori's  social  and  educational  philosophy,  isolation  is  the  chief,  if 
not  the  sole  method  of  control.  The  disobedient  pupil  in  the 
"House  of  Childhood "  is  considered  as  the  sick  child  who  can  no 
longer  safely  associate  with  the  other  children.  Therefore,  he 
must  be  removed  from  them  until  he  is  able  to  conduct  himself 
as  his  fellows  do.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  method  of  punish- 
ment is  impressive.  The  average  boy  and  girl  have  a  strong 
social  consciousness.  In  Chapter  II.  of  this  book,  we  have 
emphasized  the  strength  of  the  group  instinct  and  discussed  its 
significance  in  the  lives  of  adolescents. 

There  are  various  forms  which  punishment  by  isolation  may  take. 
They  are  most  effective  as  a  rule  when  the  offender  is  still  kept  with 
the  group,  but  is  not  permitted  to  take  part  in  its  activities  in  the 
ordinary  way.  He  may  be  allowed  to  sit  in  the  classroom,  but  he  is 
placed  in  a  seat  removed  from  the  rest  of  the  pupils.  Perhaps  his 
punishment  is  that  he  may  listen,  but  will  not  be  called  upon  to  recite' 
or  to  participate  in  the  discussions.  The  strength  of  the  punishment  i 
in  any  case  consists  in  the  fact  not  merely  that  he  is  removed  from 
others,  but  that  he  feels  his  isolation  and  that  his  companions  recog- 
nize it.  The  following  example  of  discipline  by  this  method  em- 
phasizes this  aspect  of  the  punishment: — 

In  a  large  city  high  school  the  pupils  are  compelled  to  take  their 
lunches  in  several  different  sections  to  prevent  overcrowding.  In 
each  section  a  group  of  boys  is  provided  with  chairs  and  a  table.  The 
table  they  are  required  to  leave  in  proper  condition  for  the  group 
that  follows.  Boys  are  assigned  in  turns  to  look  out  for  the  condition 
of  the  table  at  which  they  eat.  One  boy  when  the  time  came  for  him 
to  serve  refused,  saying  that  he  did  not  propose  "to  clean  up  after 
anybody  but  himself."  The  penalty  for  this  refusal  to  cooperate 
with  his  fellows  was  to  assign  him  a  chair  and  a  table  apart  from  the 
others  and  require  him  to  keep  these  in  proper  order.  This  he  did 
for  a  few  days,  but  before  the  end  of  the  week  he  came  to  the  prin- 
cipal's office  and  requested  to  be  allowed  to  eat  with  the  others.    He 


122  INTRODUCTION  TO   HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

was  told  that  the  present  arrangement  was  quite  satisfactory,  and 
that  it  could  continue  without  difficulty  throughout  the  year.  How- 
ever, the  boy  begged  to  be  permitted  to  do  as  the  rest  did.  He  said, — 
"I  can't  stand  it  to  be  placed  off  there  by  myself  and  see  the  rest  of 
the  fellows  looking  over  at  me  and  grinning.  I've  got  enough."  The 
principal  remitted  the  penalty,  and  the  boy  never  again  showed  the 
slightest  inclination  not  to  cooperate  with  his  companions. 

(f)   Reproof. — Reproof  when  administered  under  proper  con- 

v  ditions  is  one  of  the  most  severe  forms  of  punishment.    In 

;  order  that  it  may  be  effective,  the  offender  must  respect  the 

(  authority  of  the  person  who  gives  the  reproof  and  must  desire 

<  his  approbation.     Otherwise  it  has  little  significance.     The 

psychology  of  reproof  is  found  in  the  sqcial  consciousness  of  the 

individual,  which  as  we  have  seen,  asserts  itself  in  a  striking 

manner  during  the  high  school  age.     If  the  pupil  holds  the 

teacher  in  small  regard,  however,  he  is  not  apt  to  care  for  his 

*  reprimand.  Indeed,  he  may  glory  in  it,  particularly  if  his 
punishment  in  any  way  tends  to  make  a  hero  of  him  in  the  eyes 
of  his  mates.  Reproof  takes  various  forms.  It  may  be  given  in 
private  by  the  disciplinary  officer,  or  it  may  be  given  in  the 
presence  of  the  offender's  classmates  by  the  teacher.    In  this 

»  latter  instance  if  it  is  mere  fault-finding  and  scolding  it  is  unwise. 

*  If,  on  the  other  hand  it  is  done  with  impressiveness  and  dignity, 
and  only  when  the  occasion  requires  it,  the  reproof  is  given 
much  greater  weight  by  the  fact  that  it  is  administered  in  public. 
So  severe  is  it  under  these  circumstances  that  it  should  not  be 
employed  for  minor  offences  and  trivial  lapses  in  order.  Con- 
cerning these  latter  it  is  better  for  the  teacher  to  speak  to  the 
pupil  after  the  class  exercise. 

When  reproof  carries  with  it  the  expressed  or  implied  dis- 
approval of  the  group  to  which  the  offender  belongs  it  is  capable 
of  causing  in  its  more  pronounced  forms  the  most  severe  mental 
suffering,  suffering  far  greater  than  that  arising  from  the  objec- 
tive punishment  that  may  accompany  it.    The  malefactor  often 


DISCIPLINE   IN  THE  HIGH   SCHOOL  1 23 

fears  more  the  attitude  of  society  toward  him  than  he  does  the  j 
confinement  of  prison  walls.    On  the  other  hand  the  political  \ 
offender  may  go  to  the  dungeon  or  to  the  scaffold  with  head  erect    ' 
and  with  joy  in  his  heart,  because  he  believes  that  he  has  the 
approval  of  those  whose  opinions  he  respects,  those  who  are  his 
real  "  social  self,"  in  the  language  of  James.1   The  most  adequate   f 
punishment  'for  certain  school  offences  is  based  on  the  disap-    ) 
proval  by  the  group  of  the  offences  of  its  individual  mem-   j 
bers.    It  is  here  that  various  forms  of  student  self-government   . 
have  their  chief  value.    It  is  highly  important  that  all  school 
offences  that  are  social  in  their  character  should  receive  this  form 
of  punishment  whenever  it  is  possible  to  administer  it. 

On  various  occasions  reference  has  been  made  to  dishonesty  in 
school  work  and  methods  of  adequately  dealing  with  it.  It  has  been 
pointed  out  that  many  of  the  punishments  have  little  effect,  largely 
because  they  are  inadequate  or  not  suited  to  the  nature  of  the  of- 
fence. The  cheat  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  social  offender,  one 
who  injures  the  group,  and  should  be  made  to  suffer  the  contempt  of 
the  group  toward  him.  If  he  could  be  made  to  feel  that  his  fellows 
despise  underhand  methods  and  that  they  will  know  when  he  prac- 
tices them,  it  would  be  relatively  easy  to  bring  about  a  reform  in 
school  honesty.  An  example  in  point  is  the  following: — In  a  class  in 
a  girls'  high  school  two  examination  papers  were  handed  in  that  con- 
tained errors  so  similar  that  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  pupils 
concerned  had  given  and  received  aid  from  each  other.  The  teacher 
called  them  before  him  and  they  admitted  that  they  had  cheated. 
They  were  told  that  a  mere  mark  of  zero  on  their  examination  would 
not  be  considered  a  sufficient  punishment  for  what  they  had  done 
since  their  misconduct  was  in  reality  an  offence  against  the  class  as 
a  whole.  It  was  pointed  out  to  them  that  they  had  taken  an  unfair 
advantage  of  their  classmates  whose  work  was  original,  and  further 
they  had  to  an  extent  destroyed  the  confidence  of  the  teacher  in  the 
class,  since  he  could  no  longer  feel  like  trusting  its  members  in  the 
way  in  which  he  had  previously  done.    The  whole  matter,  he  told 

1  See  Principles  of  Psychology,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  293-296  (1890). 


124  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

them,  must  be  referred  to  the  class,  to  whom  they  must  make 
i     an  adequate  apology  for  what  they  had  done.    This  method  was 
employed.    The  circumstance  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
class  through  one  of  its  leading  members,  and  the  class  and  the  of- 
fending pupils  wrote  letters  of  apology  to  the  instructor.    This  ended 
the  incident,  but  it  produced  a  profound  impression  on  all.    In  some 
respects  the  punishment  was  drastic,  but  in  dealing  with  the  diffi- 
(,  culty  "at  its  source,"  it  brought  the  seriousness  of  the  whole  practice 
\  to  the  attention  of  the  school  and  aroused  public  sentiment  against  it, 
L  a  most  wholesome  result.    In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  we  need  in 
1  school  dishonesty  as  in  community  dishonesty  the  drastic  corrective 
1  of  "pitiless  publicity." 

(g)  Sarcasm  and  Contempt. — A  more  severe  form  of  punish- 
ment than  reprimand  and  reproof,  although  closely  related  to 
it,  is  holding  the  offender  up  to  ridicule  or  directing  sarcasm 
against  him.  This  method  of  discipline  should  not  be  employed 
without  adequate  justification.  As  a  rule  sarcasm  is  almost 
dangerous  instrument.  Ill-natured  and  repeated  sarcasm  should* 
never  be  indulged  In.  Pupils  resent  being  held  in  contempt,  or 
being  the  butts  of  fun  and  ridicule.  Nothing  will  arouse  an- 
-  tagonism  against  the  teacher  more  quickly.  There  is  one  type  of 
offence,  however,  that  is  most  appropriately  dealt  with  in  this 
way,  namely,  impudence  and  insolence.  The  impudent  pupil 
assumes  the  attitude  of  superiority  to  the  teacher,  and  contempt 
for  him.  This  attitude  can  never  be  tolerated.  It  is  absolutely 
destructive  to  class  control  and  must  always  be  met  vigorously 
and  quickly.  The  teacher  who  can  by  a  sudden  turn  of  wit  put 
the  bumptious  pupil  in  his  place,  who  can  turn  the  tables  on  him 
and  "show  him  up"  before  the  class,  is  not  likely  to  have  further 
trouble  with  him.  The  average  boy  and  girl  shrink  from  ap- 
pearing in  a  ridiculous  light  before  others.  Therefore,  the 
teacher  who  knows  how  to  use  sarcasm  discreetly,  but  with 
telling  effect  is  not  likely  to  have  serious  trouble  from  impudent 
pupils. 


DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  1 25 

The  following  example  of  discipline  illustrates  how  loath  the  aver- 
age pupil  is  to  appear  in  a  ridiculous  light  before  others: — A  boy- 
skipped  a  part  of  his  shop  period  and  went  to  the  lunch  room  without 
permission.  Here  he  was  discovered  by  the  principal  eating  a  piece 
of  cake.  He  was  told  to  go  immediately  into  the  shop  and  show  the 
half  eaten  cake  to  the  teacher,  and  explain  to  him  the  cause  of  his 
absence.  So  ashamed  was  the  boy  to  appear  before  the  rest  of  the 
class  in  this  ridiculous  manner  that  he  opened  the  door  of  the  shop 
just  far  enough  to  thrust  through  his  head  and  then  called  the  instruc- 
tor to  come  outside.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  been  a  troublesome  boy, 
but  the  discipline  on  this  occasion  proved  so  wholesome  that  he  has 
given  little  annoyance  since. 

(h)  Appeal  to  Parents. — It  is  the  general  practice  in  school 
discipline  to  call  in  the  parents  or  guardians  of  a  pupil  whose 
conduct  is  such  that  it  cannot  be  dealt  with  satisfactorily  by 
teachers  and  principals.  This  is  an  effective  punishment  only, 
when  the  disapproval  of  the  parent  is  feared  by  the  pupil.  In 
many  instances  the  pupil  who  is  a  serious  disciplinary  problem 
in  school  is  the  same  sort  of  problem  at  home,  and  the  father 
and  mother  are  as  little  capable  of  controlling  him  as  are  his 
instructors.  In  those  instances,  however,  in  wThich  the  pupil 
respects  parental  authority,  this  method  of  punishment  pro- 
duces satisfactory  results.  Seldom  do  parents  refuse  to  co- 
operate when  called  in.  Too  often,  unfortunately,  parents  them- 
selves fail  in  authority. 

Important  Maxims  of  Discipline. — In  bringing  to  a  conclu- 
sion the  discussion  of  the  preceding  pages  concerning  discipline, 
it  may  be  well  to  emphasize  certain  rules  or  maxims  in  regard 
to  pupil-control  that  every  teacher  should  keep  in  mind.  Most 
of  these  have  already  been  discussed  at  some  length.  They  will 
be  restated  by  way  of  summary.  Others  have  not  been  ex- 
plicitly mentioned  but  have  been  implied.  A  few  have  not  been 
touched  on  in  any  form.    These  maxims  are: — 

(a)  The  teacher  should  always  strive  to  enforce  the  control  of  his 


126  INTRODUCTION   TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

classes  by  indirect  means. — The  existence  of  positive  disorder  is 
always  an  evidence  of  unsatisfactory  conditions.  These  may  be 
due  to  the  attitude  of  individual  pupils  or  of  the  class  as  a  group. 
An  undesirable  attitude  is  best  changed  by  indirect  means. 

(b)  If  direct  control  is  necessary,  punishment  should  be  avoided 
whenever  results  can  be  accomplished  by  other  means. — It  must  be 
remembered  that  punishment  in  itself  is  never  desirable.  It 
tends  to  produce  unsatisfactory  attitudes,  at  times  causing  sur- 
liness, revolt,  and  open  rebellion. 

(c)  When  punishment  is  necessary  it  should  be  administered 
with  vigor. — While  the  principle  of  "  Rightfulness  "  is  dangerous, 
punishment  should  be  a  reality,  and  not  a  pretense. 

(d)  Artificial  punishment  should  strive  to  combine  in  itself  all 
of  the  advantages  of  natural  punishment,  at  the  same  time  avoiding 
its  obvious  defects. — For  this  reason  no  teacher  can  afford  to 
administer  punishment  in  a  haphazard,  impulsive,  or  stereo- 
typed manner.    Effective  punishments  must  be  "thought  out." 

(e)  Punishment  must  impress  the  offender  as  having  a  moral 
implication. — Whatever  the  views  of  the  teacher  in  regard  to  its 
fimction,  it  must  impress  the  pupil  as  a  just  and  necessary  con- 
sequence of  a  wrong  act. 

(f)  The  teacher  should  administer  his  own  discipline  as  far  as 
possible. — To  ask  outside  aid  is  a  confession  of  weakness.  No 
teacher  can  succeed  ultimately  who  does  not  rely  on  his  own 
ability  to  control. 

(g)  The  teacher  should  frankly  discuss  his  disciplinary  problems 
with  his  superiors  and  colleagues,  and  ask  for  their  advice. — The 
teacher,  particularly  the  novice,  through  fear  of  criticism  often 
keeps  silent  in  regard  to  classroom  difficulties,  when  he  should 
consult  the  principal,  and  older  and  more  experienced  teachers, 
not  with  the  idea  of  giving  over  the  control  of  the  class  to  them, 
but  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  their  counsel  and  sympathetic 
criticism. 

(h)  The  most  effective  form  of  punishment  is  social  in  its  char- 


DISCIPLINE   IN   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL  1 27 

acter. — The  pupil  shrinks  from  the  disapproval  of  those  whom  he 
respects,  particularly  from  the  disapproval  of  his  fellows.  When 
disapproval  takes  the  form  of  scorn  or  contempt  it  surpasses  in 
severity  the  more  objective  forms  of  punishment. 

(i)  In  dealing  with  cases  of  discipline  the  teacher  must  act  with 
decision  and  promptness,  but  must  make  sure  that  he  has  isolated 
the  individual  offenders  and  that  he  knows  exactly  the  nature  of  the 
offence. — It  is  not  safe  to  punish  in  the  dark.  Nothing  arouses 
the  antagonism  of  the  pupil  more  than  to  be  punished  unjustly. 
The  pupil  should  recognize  the  seriousness  of  his  delinquency, 
and  the  justice  and  necessity  of  his  punishment.  The  high 
school  pupil  is  sufficiently  mature  to  understand  the  conse- 
quences of  his  acts.  He  should  be  enlightened  by  the  teacher. 
However,  mere  enlightenment  is  not  in  and  of  itself  sufficient 
to  bring  desirable  results.  Mere  knowledge  of  results  may  not 
have  the  necessary  strength  to  insure  proper  conduct.  Remote 
consequences  must  be  made  vivid,  real,  and  to  an  extent  present. 
Reforms  in  the  life  of  the  individual  and  of  society  must  appeal 
to  more  than  reason;  they  must  appeal  to  the  desire  to  escape 
punishment,  to  ideals  and  to  prejudices,  to  be  effective. 

(j)  As  a  rule  it  is  not  wise  to  punish  the  group  for  the  misconduct 
of  individuals. — When,  however,  the  group  wilfully  conceal  the 
guilty  individuals  whose  offences  are  of  a  serious  nature,  or  when 
it  is  in  their  power  to  control  and  correct  individual  misconduct 
and  they  are  unwilling  to  do  so,  then  they  are  in  a  sense  equally 
guilty,  and  should  be  made  to  realize  their  collective  responsi- 
bility. 


CHAPTER  Vn 

ELIMINATING  WASTE  IN  THE  CLASSROOM 

The  Maximally  Efficient  Class  should  be  the  Ideal  of  the 
Teacher. — No  teacher  should  be  content  with  an  average  class, 
or  a  satisfactory  class.  He  should  strive  to  have  each  and  every 
class  working  under  conditions  of  maximal  efficiency.  He 
should  constantly  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  no  class  is  doing  its 
best  unless  all  of  its  members  are  engaged  during  the  entire  recitation 
period  in  actively  performing  work  that  is  distinctly  worth  while. 
Such  ideal  conditions  can  probably  never  be  completely  realized, 
but  they  can  be  approximated.  Few  teachers  seem  to  have 
distinctly  before  them  the  problem  of  eliminating  waste.  They 
are  content  to  use  uneconomical  methods  and  to  achieve  medio- 
cre results.  Probably  few  classes  in  the  high  school  are  more 
than  "fifty  per  cent,  efficient."  Pupils  are  not  really  at  work 
more  than  half  of  the  time.  Occasionally  the  visitor  finds  a 
class  in  which  every  pupil  appears  busy  from  assembly  to  dis- 
missal, but  such  classes  are  rare. 

The  writer  has  attempted  to  estimate  in  various  high  school  classes 
that  he  has  visited  the  amount  of  time  that  pupils  are  actively  en- 
gaged in  their  school  work,  and  he  has  found  results  that  are  indeed 
astonishing.  In  two  hundred  classes  considered  he  found  one  in  which 
each  pupil  was  mentally  active  but  two  minutes  of  the  total  forty- 
five;  five  in  which  each  pupil  was  active  for  approximately  five  min- 
utes; nine  for  ten  minutes;  twenty-one  for  fifteen  minutes;  thirty-seven 
for  twenty  minutes;  fifty-five  for  twenty-five  minutes;  thirty-eight 
for  thirty  minutes;  twenty- two  for  thirty-five  minutes;  nine  for  forty 
minutes,  and  three  for  forty-two  minutes.  These  observations  seem 
to  indicate  that  under  ordinary  classroom  conditions  in  a  large-sized 

128 


ELIMINATING  WASTE  IN  THE  CLASSROOM  1 29 

high  school,  half  of  the  school  day  is  wasted.  While  conditions  vary 
greatly  with  various  teachers,  subjects,  schools,  and  classes,  it  is 
probable  that  on  the  average  the  waste  is  no  less  than  that  found  in 
the  classes  observed. 

The  Causes  of  Waste  in  the  Classroom  are  Varied. — 

There  is  no  one  single  cause  for  waste  in  the  classroom.  Many 
factors  usually  contribute  to  bring  about  the  undesirable  result. 
However,  the  various  kinds  of  loss  may  be  traced  to  a  few  main 
sources.  In  general,  these  resemble  to  a  considerable  degree  the 
causes  that  are  responsible  for  loss  in  the  factory  and  business 
establishment.  Hence  in  this  respect  a  profitable  comparison 
may  be  made  between  the  school  and  the  industries. 

The  main  sources  of  waste  in  the  industries  are  to  be  found 
in  the  unsatisfactory  external  conditions  under  which  the  work 
is  done,  unsatisfactory  physical  and  mental  conditions  of  the 
workers,  and  unsatisfactory  methods  used  by  the  workmen  in 
accomplishing  their  tasks.  The  external  conditions  relate  to  the 
building  in  which  the  work  is  done;  the  arrangement,  routing, 
and  distribution  of  tools,  supplies  and  other  materials;  the  plac- 
ing of  machines,  supply-boxes,  and  receptacles,  and  the  presence 
or  the  absence  of  chairs,  stools,  and  other  furniture.  The  phys- 
ical condition  of  the  workman  involves  the  question  of  the  length 
of  rest  periods,  freedom  from  unnecessary  strain,  and  the  proper 
distribution  of  periods  of  rest.  The  mental  condition  of  the 
workman  is  closely  related  to  his  attitude  toward  the  work,  his 
success  in  accomplishing  his  task,  the  reward  which  he  receives 
for  it,  and  the  presence  or  absence  of  distractions,  annoyance, 
and  worry.  The  methods  employed  by  the  workman  in  accom- 
plishing his  task  are  either  wasteful  or  economical  in  terms  of  the 
number  of  motions  that  are  employed  in  obtaining  a  given  result. 
The  ideal  is  to  eliminate  all  unnecessary  and  clumsy  movements, 
and  to  accomplish  this  the  workman  must  be  properly  super- 
vised and  taught  to  perform  his  task  under  uniform  conditions. 
He  must  have  constantly  before  him  the  knowledge  of  what  a 


130  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

desirable  product  is;  he  must  be  given  careful  instruction  as  how 
best  to  obtain  this  product;  and  a  standard  of  achievement  in 
the  amount  to  be  done  in  each  day's  work  must  be  set. 

In  the  Classroom  the  Physical  Conditions  must  be  such 
that  the  Work  may  be  done  under  the  Best  Possible  Cir- 
cumstances.— These  physical  conditions  are  concerned  with  the 
following  details  of  equipment  and  arrangement  of  the  school 
building: — 

(a)  The  characteristics  of  the  classroom. — In  order  that  the 
work  of  the  class  may  be  done  under  the  best  possible  conditions 
the  classroom  must  be  suited  to  its  purpose.  It  should  be  prop- 
erly lighted,  heated,  and  ventilated.  No  teacher  should  consider 
these  details  trivial.  The  temperature  should  not  be  above  sixty- 
eight  degrees  Fahrenheit;  the  air  should  be  in  circulation  and 
reasonably  fresh;  and  the  pupils  should  be  able  to  see  the  work 
that  they  are  doing  at  the  seats  or  on  the  blackboards  without 
effort  or  eye  strain.  As  a  rule  the  teacher  has  little  to  do  with 
these  conditions,  but  in  so  far  as  they  are  in  any  way  under  his 
control,  he  should  strive  to  have  them  satisfactory.  The  teacher 
who  refused  to  take  readings  of  the  thermometer  because  he  did 
not  propose  to  do  the  work  of  the  janitor,  had  a  small  conception 
of  his  function. 

Not  only  should  the  room  be  properly  heated,  lighted  and 
ventilated,  it  should  be  of  a  size  suited  to  the  class.  Not  in- 
frequently is  it  the  case  that  a  large  class  is  crowded  into  a  small 
room,  or  a  small  class  assigned  to  a  room  large  enough  to  hold 
four  times  its  number.  If  a  small  class  is  assigned  to  a  large 
room  the  teacher  should  aim  to  so  arrange  it  that  he  can  come 
in  as  close  contact  with  the  pupil  as  possible.  He  should  not,  as 
is  sometimes  the  case,  be  seated  on  a  raised  platform. behind  a 
desk,  with  the  pupils  seated  on  one  side  of  the  room,  and  placed 
from  the  front  to  the  rear.  The  teacher  has  an  intimate  relation 
to  his  class;  he  should  be  neither  mentally  nor  physically  remote. 
Often  physical  remoteness  leads  to  mental  remoteness. 


ELIMINATING  WASTE  IN  THE  CLASSROOM  13I 

The  arrangement  of  the  seats  in  most  classes  is  unsatisfactory. 
The  placing  of  desks  in  formal  rows  is  a  device  but  poorly  suited 
to  efficient  teaching.  As  we  have  previously  said  the  class 
should  be  seated  in  a  semi-circle,  with  the  teacher  at  the  center. 
Under  these  conditions  each  pupil  would  look  directly  into  the 
faces  of  his  classmates  and  the  teacher  would  have  the  position 
that  would  give  him  the  most  direct  relation  to  the  individual 
members  of  the  class.  It  is  a  fact  worth  noting  that  we  have  the 
proper  seating  of  pupils  only  at  the  extremes  of  the  educational 
ladder,  namely, — in  the  kindergarten  and  in  the  seminary 
courses  in  the  university.  As  we  progress  through  the  grades, 
the  high  school  and  the  college,  the  relation  between  teacher  and 
pupil  becomes  more  and  more  remote,  reaching  its  culmination 
in  large  lecture  classes  where  the  instructor  stands  at  his  desk 
and  gives  a  formal  talk  to  his  pupils  for  an  entire  period. 

(b)  The  position  and  arrangement  of  cabinets,  supply  closets, 
demonstration  apparatus  and  other  illustrative  materials. — It  is 
important  that  all  materials  for  classroom  use  should  be  so 
placed  as  to  be  readily  accessible  to  the  pupils.  Here  we  have  a 
question  analogous  to  that  of  routing  in  the  industries.  A  large 
amount  of  waste  has  been  eliminated  in  shops,  factories,  and 
mercantile  establishments  by  devising  plans  for  furnishing  the 
workmen  with  their  materials  in  the  most  direct  and  rapid  man- 
ner possible.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  the  Ford 
plant  in  Detroit  is  the  system  by  which  the  various  parts  that 
enter  into  the  manufacture  of  an  automobile  are  conveyed  to  the 
point  at  which  they  are  to  be  used  at  the  proper  time.  Any 
large  industrial  establishment  that  attempted  to  operate  to- 
day without  a  carefully  devised  plan  of  routing  would  be  a 
failure. 

In  the  schoolroom  we  have  a  double  problem  of  routing, 
namely, — that  of  bringing  the  necessary  materials  to  the  pupil 
on  the  one  hand  and  bringing  the  pupil  to  the  materials  on  the 
other.    The  distribution  of  papers,  pencils  and  other  tools  of 


tp  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

school  industry  is  an  example  of  the  former;  the  sending  of  pupils 
in  groups  to  the  blackboard  is  an  illustration  of  the  latter. 

Many  teachers  waste  several  minutes  each  day  in  such  mechanical 
operations  as  the  distribution  of  corrected  themes  in  English  and 
other  exercises.  Some  perhaps  regard  attention  to  such  details  as 
too  trivial  to  be  considered  by  a  high  school  teacher.  However,  it 
should  never  be  forgotten  that  it  is  no  small  matter  to  save  for  class 
instruction  every  minute  possible.  The  mechanics  of  teaching  should 
be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  In  most  blackboard  work  unnecessary 
time  is  consumed  not  only  in  getting  the  pupils  to  the  board,  but  in 
assigning  them  to  the  space  at  which  they  are  to  work.  The  whole 
procedure  is  often  quite  haphazard.  The  teacher  who  requires  groups 
of  pupils  to  work  at  the  board  should  have  a  plan.  Each  pupil  should 
be  assigned  to  a  definite  place  marked  off  and  permanently  set  apart 
for  him.  It  is  well  to  have  pupils  who  are  to  do  board  work  pass 
directly  to  the  board  on  entering  the  room  at  the  beginning  of  the 
hour  and  start  on  their  work  at  once.  In  one  class  in  which  this 
method  was  tried  it  was  found  that  there  was  a  saving  over  former 
practice  of  twenty  minutes  a  week.  In  the  school  year  this  was  the 
equivalent  of  adding  approximately  sixteen  full  recitation  periods  in 
this  subject. 

In  the  high  school  the  problem  of  routing  materials  is  most  im- 
portant in  laboratory  instruction  in  the  sciences.  Too  often  there  is 
no  arrangement  and  classification  of  supplies  and  apparatus  to  be 
used.  They  are  placed  in  closets  and  cases  in  the  manner  that  at  the 
time  seems  most  convenient.  In  only  a  few  instances  has  the  writer 
found  a  laboratory  in  which  the  arranging  and  routing  of  materials 
has  been  worked  out  in  systematic  detail.  In  one  laboratory  the 
apparatus  for  each  experiment  was  arranged  in  separate  boxes  for  the 
use  of  individual  pupils,  and  was  carefully  filed  according  to  a  decimal 
system  of  classification,  after  the  method  used  in  the  most  advanced 
industrial  establishments  in  their  tool-rooms.  Class-foremen  were 
assigned  the  task  of  bringing  out  these  materials  when  needed  and 
placing  them  where  the  pupils  could  find  them  at  hand.  General 
supplies  were  arranged  on  a  central  table  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
pupils  who  were  busy  at  the  work  tables  could  obtain  them  by  merely 


ELIMINATING   WASTE   IN  THE   CLASSROOM  133 

turning  round.  At  the  end  of  the  period  all  materials  were  restored 
to  their  proper  places.  The  whole  operation  required  less  than 
three  minutes.  In  some  laboratories  the  time  consumed  in  the  sort- 
ing and  routing  of  materials  is  not  infrequently  one-tenth  of  the  total 
ninety  minutes.1 

It  is  very  important  that  illustrative  materials 2  should  be  of 
such  a  nature  that  they  can  be  seen;  and  they  should  be  so  placed 
that  they  can  be  seen.  Teachers  fail  to  consider  sufficiently  the 
question  of  clearly  presenting  to  the  pupils  the  essential  objects 
that  are  to  supplement  oral  instruction.  Maps  are  few,  poor,  and 
often  placed  in  remote  and  obscure  places  where  their  value  is 
nil.  Blackboard  work  is  done  in  such  a  manner  that  it  often 
seems  a  waste  of  time.  The  writing  of  many  pupils  is  indistinct, 
sometimes  so  small  that  it  cannot  be  read  ten  feet  away,  and  not 
infrequently  so  spaced  as  to  be  easily  confused  with  the  writing 
of  others.  Further,  the  board  is  so  lighted  that  it  is  seldom  any 
one  part  of  it  can  be  seen  by  all  of  the  members  of  the  class;  and 
there  are  often  large  portions  that  are  not  visible  to  a  considera- 
ble part  of  the  class. 

(c)  The  use  of  the  blackboard. — The  foregoing  discussion  of  the 
use  of  the  blackboard  leads  us  to  a  further  consideration  of  this 
important  topic.  There  is  probably  no  one  device  employed  in 
class  instruction  that  is  used  with  so  little  consideration  and  with 
so  much  waste.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  problem  of 
routing  the  pupils  to  the  board  and  of  placing  them  properly 
is  by  no  means  a  trivial  consideration,  and  that  this  is  further 
complicated  by  the  fact  that  the  board  is  often  so  situated  and 
the  writing  is  so  slovenly  and  indistinct  that  the  written  work 
can  be  seen  only  with  difficulty,  sometimes  not  at  all.  Added  to 
these  obvious  abuses  are  others  of  an  equally  grave  nature. 

We  can  approach  a  more  detailed  consideration  of  this  matter 
by  asking  what  are  the  reasons  for  the  use  of  the  boards.    The 

1  See  Chapter  IV.,  p.  63.  2  See  Chapter  XII, 


134  INTRODUCTION  TO   HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

chief  justification  for  work  at  the  board  is  to  bring  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  class  as  a  whole  some  fact  or  principle  that  needs 
visual  presentation.  Further,  the  board  may  at  times  be  used  as 
a  means  for  enabling  the  teacher  to  see  and  correct  most  econom- 
ically the  mistakes  of  individual  pupils.  Some  teachers  assert 
that  for  this  purpose  this  method  is  better  than  that  of  having 
the  pupils  do  written  work  at  their  seats.  Again,  it  is  advan- 
tageous at  times  to  send  pupils  to  the  board  for  the  purpose  of 
relieving  the  tedium  of  constant  work  at  the  desks.  It  is  un- 
fortunate that  we  cannot  provide  in  our  school  equipment,  desks 
at  which  pupils  may  do  part  of  their  work  when  standing,  since 
the  constant  sitting  posture  is  one  of  the  chief  causes  for  the 
weariness  and  tedium  connected  with  school  tasks. 

If  we  assign  blackboard  work  to  pupils  for  purposes  of  general 
class  instruction  it  is  obvious  that  those  parts  of  the  board  should 
be  used  that  can  best  be  seen  by  the  entire  class.  Other  things 
being  equal,  when  only  a  portion  of  the  blackboard  space  is  to  be 
utilized,  the  front  board  should  be  given  the  preference.  Quite 
often  this  is  not  the  case.  Teachers  as  a  rule  seem  to  prefer  to 
use  the  boards  at  the  sides  of  the  room.  Not  infrequently  they 
use  the  boards  at  the  rear. 

The  only  justification  for  using  the  boards  at  the  rear  of  the  room 
is  when  all  of  the  other  boards  are  occupied,  when  the  work  placed 
there  can  more  readily  be  seen  than  when  it  is  written  elsewhere, 
when  those  who  are  at  their  seats  are  doing  similar  work,  and  the 
teacher  does  not  wish  them  to  see  the  work  on  the  board  until  they 
have  finished  their  task.  This  sometimes  happens,  for  example,  in  a 
drill  exercise  in  stenography,  when  one  pupil  is  sent  to  the  board  to 
write  the  outlines  from  the  dictation  of  the  teacher,  and  the  members 
at  the  seats  are  required  to  do  the  same.  At  the  end  of  the  exercise 
the  work  of  the  class  as  a  whole  is  compared  with  the  work  done  by 
the  pupil  at  the  board  for  the  purpose  of  rapid  correction.  While 
this  procedure  is  justified,  it  is  a  better  method  to  have  the  correct 
forms  previously  written  on  the  board  at  the  front  of  the  room,  and 
then  concealed  from  view  by  a  map  until  the  time  for  their  use  arrives. 


ELIMINATING  WASTE  IN  THE  CLASSROOM  135 

It  is  not  desirable  to  place  on  the  board  errors  that  are  peculiar 
and  individual.  There  is  no  justification  for  calling  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  class  as  a  whole  mistakes  that  only  a  few  are  apt  to 
make.  Not  only  is  it  a  waste  of  time,  but  there  is  danger  of 
impressing  the  class  with  the  incorrect  form  and  confusing  it  with 
the  correct  usage. 

A  considerable  part  of  the  blackboard  work  done  in  English,  foreign 
languages,  and  mathematics  is  in  direct  violation  of  this  principle, 
and  for  this  reason  cannot  be  too  strongly  condemned.  It  is  a  com- 
mon practice  in  such  a  subject  as  Latin  to  assign  the  written  composi- 
tion prepared  outside  of  the  class  to  individuals  to  be  placed  on  the 
board.  All  kinds  of  mistakes  appear,  some  of  them  errors  that  are 
common,  but  many  of  them  individual.  There  is  little  general  ad- 
vantage, and  much  waste  in  such  procedure.  A  much  better  method 
is  to  assign  to  all  the  pupils  work  at  their  seats;  to  require  this  to  be 
handed  in  to  the  teacher,  who  looks  it  over  and  corrects  it,  calling  the 
attention  of  the  pupil  concerned  to  his  individual  mistakes  and  point- 
ing out  to  the  class  as  a  whole  the  common  errors.  Of  course  the 
great  objection  to  such  a  method  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  requires  an 
additional  amount  of  work  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  who  is  as  a 
rule  overburdened  with  school  duties.  This  objection  may  in  part 
be  removed  by  requiring  the  pupils  in  class  to  write  out  only  a  part 
of  their  exercise.  If  this  is  a  fair  sampling,  and  if  they  do  not  know 
in  advance  what  part  of  the  work  they  will  be  called  upon  to  write, 
the  results  will  be  not  far  different  from  those  that  would  be  obtained 
if  they  were  assigned  the  entire  exercise  to  be  written  in  the  class 
period. 

When  errors  in  blackboard  work  are  corrected  they  should  be 
so  definitely  emphasized  that  they  are  forced  upon  the  attention 
of  the  class  as  a  whole.  There  is  practically  no  value  in  hurried 
and  indistinct  correction.  Indeed  at  times  such  corrections  may 
be  worse  than  useless,  the  result  being  that  the  class  becomes  un- 
certain and  confused  as  to  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong. 

Far  too  much  of  the  work  done  on  the  blackboard  is  of  the 
stereotyped  kind.     In  most  instances  instruction  would  be 


136  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

greatly  improved  if  it  were  omitted  and  some  other  form  of 
written  work  employed.  Often  it  is  done  without  any  clear 
purpose  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  It  seems  to  be  accepted  as 
the  proper  thing  to  do  because  it  is  the  tradition  to  do  it.  On  the 
other  hand  most  teachers  do  not  use  the  board  enough  them- 
selves. There  are  many  matters  that  come  up  in  the  course  of  a 
recitation  that  could  be  clarified  and  vivified  through  visual 
presentation  and  which  are  left  in  the  realm  of  abstractions. 
The  board  in  front  of  the  room  is  an  excellent  medium  for  teach- 
ing of  this  sort. 

Let  us  compare  two  classes  in  geometry  as  we  commonly  find  them 
in  the  average  high  school.  In  the  first  class  the  instruction  is  of  the 
lesson-hearing  type,  and  centers  around  class  work  on  the  board;  in 
the  second  the  instruction  is  of  the  development  type  and  is  con- 
stantly under  the  guidance  of  the  teacher,  who  uses  the  blackboard 
to  make  emphatic  and  clear  each  step  in  the  processes  that  are  being 
presented.  In  the  first  class  the  pupils  assemble,  the  teacher  calls 
the  roll,  and  then  begins:  "Master  Smith,  you  may  go  to  the  board 
and  write  out  the  first  proposition  in  today's  lesson;  Miss  Johnson, 
you  may  write  out  the  second;  Miss  Adams,  the  third;  Master  White, 
the  fourth."  Perhaps  all  of  the  pupils  are  sent  to  the  board,  several 
working  on  the  same  proposition,  or  perhaps  some  remain  at  their 
seats  to  do  the  work  that  others  are  doing  on  the  board,  or  to  be 
questioned  about  other  parts  of  the  lesson,  often  apparently  to  kill 
time  until  those  at  the  board  are  ready  to  recite.  Then  the  pupils 
are  called  on,  one  by  one  and  they  go  through  their  proofs,  often  in  a 
halting  and  indistinct  way.  Sometimes  the  teacher  corrects  the  mis- 
takes, sometimes  calls  upon  the  pupils  at  their  seats  to  make  correc- 
tions. The  whole  procedure  is  more  or  less  hazy  and  obscure;  it 
lacks  the  clear-cut  incisiveness  necessary  to  make  a  distinct  impres- 
sion on  the  minds  of  the  learners.  In  this  case  the  blackboard  serves 
no  purpose  that  might  not  be  better  accomplished  by  other  means. 

How  different  is  the  result  in  the  second  class.  Here  the  pupils 
are  given  a  brief  written  test  on  the  assignment  for  the  day.  This  is 
followed  by  the  teacher's  discussing  with  the  class  the  chief  errors 


ELIMINATING  WASTE   IN  THE   CLASSROOM  137 

found  in  yesterday's  test,  and  in  other  written  work  that  the  pupils 
have  submitted.  These  common  mistakes  are  made  clear  through  a 
use  of  the  board.  Finally  the  lesson  for  the  coming  day  is  taken  up. 
The  teacher  draws  the  necessary  figures  on  the  board,  and  discusses 
with  the  class  the  points  essential  in  the  statement  of  the  new  proposi- 
tions and  in  their  proof.  Perhaps  he  may  vary  the  procedure  by 
sending  one  of  the  pupils  to  the  board  to  work  under  his  direction  and 
in  accordance  with  the  suggestions  of  the  class.  In  the  first  example 
cited,  the  entire  board  is  used;  much  of  the  written  work  is  indistinct, 
and  some  of  the  figures  not  properly  constructed.  The  pupils  must 
turn  around  in  their  seats  to  follow  parts  of  the  explanations.  In  the 
second  instance,  all  of  the  work  is  directly  before  the  class;  but  one 
figure  is  presented  at  a  time;  it  is  correctly  and  distinctly  drawn,  and 
every  step  is  clearly  brought  out  in  orderly  fashion.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  as  to  which  type  of  recitation  is  the  better.  While  much  of  the 
superiority  of  the  second  class  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  primarily 
of  the  developing  as  distinguished  from  the  lesson-hearing  type,  the 
proper  use  of  the  blackboard  by  the  teacher  contributes  in  no  small 
degree  to  its  excellence. 

In  further  contrast  to  this  class  exercise  in  geometry  of  the  profitless 
lesson-hearing  type  is  the  following  recitation  in  commercial  arith- 
metic. The  subject  under  consideration  is  aliquot  parts,  and  the 
aim  of  the  lesson  is  to  furnish  the  pupils  with  a  knowledge  of  methods 
of  procedure,  to  acquaint  them  with  short  cuts,  and  to  give  them  skill 
in  fundamental  operations.  The  teacher  stands  at  the  board  facing 
the  class.  Now  and  then  he  turns  for  a  moment  to  write  a  part  of  a 
problem  on  the  board  and  to  develop  it  step  by  step  with  the  coopera- 
tion of  his  pupils.  At  times  he  asks  drill  questions,  rapidly,  crisply, 
and  emphatically,  calling  upon  various  pupils  in  irregular  order. 
Again,  he  addresses  the  class  as  a  whole  with  a  question  requiring 
judgment.  At  such  times  he  leaves  a  moment  for  deliberation  be- 
fore he  requests  the  answer.  Pupils  who  reply  to  the  questions  are 
asked  to  speak  distinctly  so  that  all  can  hear.  No  member  of  the 
class  is  singled  out  and  given  individual  drill,  but  the  entire  group  is 
kept  actively  attentive  during  the  class  period.  The  "pupil- teacher" 
attitude  is  at  no  time  in  evidence.  The  board  work  is  for  the  purpose 
of  gaining  the  attention  of  all  the  pupils. 


138  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

The  recitation  is  characterized  throughout  by  interest  and  mental 
alertness.  Although  this  is  primarily  a  lesson  in  drill,  the  pupils  are 
actively  using  their  minds,  and  are  doing  more  real  thinking  than 
were  the  pupils  in  the  first  class  in  geometry  considered  above.  And 
yet  geometry  is  taught  largely  for  its  "disciplinary  value,"  and  com- 
mercial arithmetic  almost  exclusively  for  practical  ends. 

After  witnessing  these  two  class  exercises  and  contrasting  their 
methods  and  results,  the  observer  finds  this  query  rising  in  his  mind, 
— Af ter  all,  are  there  any  subjects  in  and  of  themselves  exclusively  dis- 
ciplinary, or  cultural,  or  practical?  Is  there  a  magical  potency  in  any 
study  as  such?  Do  not  the  teacher  and  his  methods  of  instruction 
determine  the  essential  values  of  the  various  parts  of  the  curriculum?  l 

In  the  Conduct  of  the  Class  all  Unnecessary  Work  on  the 
part  of  the  Pupils  should  be  Eliminated. — Pupils  are  required 
to  do  many  things  that  consume  a  large  amount  of  time  and 
which  have  a  minimum  of  educative  value.  The  chief  sources  of 
waste  of  this  type  are: — 

(a)  Fruitless  dictation  exercises. — Dictation  is  justified  only 
when  it  is  an  end  in  itself,  never  when  it  Is  a  means.  It  can  be 
used  to  advantage  in  a  foreign  language  when  the  teacher's  aim 
is  to  establish  an  association  between  the  spoken  work  and  the 
written  symbol.  It  cannot  be  defended  when  its  purpose  is 
merely  to  provide  the  pupil  with  materials  that  should  be  fur- 
nished to  him  in  a  more  economical  way.  Much  of  the  material 
that  the  pupil  writes  down  in  class  should  be  given  him  in  the 
form  of  mimeographic  sheets.  There  are  numerous  illustrations 
of  the  waste  that  comes  from  dictation. 

In  a  class  in  ancient  history  the  teacher  spent  a  large  part  of  each 
hour  in  dictating  word  for  word  to  the  pupils  an  outline  for  the  study 
of  the  next  day's  assignment.  He  did  not  realize  that  he  was  using 
twenty  minutes  each  day  for  something  that  should  at  the  most  not 
have  occupied  more  than  five. 

1  For  a  further  discussion  of  the  evils  of  lesson-hearing  see  Chapter  VIII., 
pp.  168-170. 


ELIMINATING  WASTE   IN   THE   CLASSROOM  139 

In  a  class  in  general  science  the  teacher  read  each  day  a  lecture  to 
the  pupils,  which  they  were  required  to  write  in  their  note-books  as 
a  basis  for  further  study.  This  procedure  the  teacher  justified  on 
the  ground  that  there  was  no  adequate  text  in  the  course  and  that  he 
wished  to  furnish  the  pupils  with  a  definite  set  of  facts,  in  order  that 
the  course  might  be  on  the  same  basis  as  the  ordinary  text-book 
courses.  He  further  affirmed  that  there  was  no  little  value  in  having 
the  pupils  take  down  in  written  form  oral  discourse  as  a  kind  of 
training  and  discipline.  If  the  teacher  was  convinced  that  an  exact 
wording  of  the  ideas  he  sought  to  present  was  necessary,  then  he 
should  have  found  means  to  furnish  the  pupils  with  these  in  written 
form.  However,  a  much  better  method  would  have  been  to  give  the 
pupils  talks  and  demonstrations,  requiring  them  to  assimilate  and 
preserve  in  written  form  the  most  important  thoughts. 

In  a  class  in  English  the  teacher  read  to  the  pupils  incorrect  ex- 
pressions which  they  were  required  to  copy  in  their  note-books  and 
subsequently  correct.  On  the  days  when  this  exercise  was  assigned 
about  a  third  of  the  entire  period  was  used  for  the  purpose.  This 
amounted  in  the  course  of  a  year  to  a  waste  of  nearly  twenty  hours. 

(b)  Unnecessary  copying  of  questions. — While  many  teachers 
are  not  guilty  of  the  gross  disregard  of  time  involved  in  the 
examples  cited  under  the  preceding  topic,  few  seem  to  realize 
that  they  waste  considerable  time  in  the  aggregate  by  requiring 
of  their  pupils  kinds  of  written  work  that  while  not  strictly  of 
the  nature  of  formal  dictation,  are  essentially  time-consuming 
and  profitless.  In  connection  with  written  tests  and  similar 
exercises  it  is  not  infrequently  the  practice  to  require  the  pupils 
to  write  out  each  question  as  well  as  its  answer.  When  the 
question  is  definitely  and  clearly  put,  there  can  be  no  advantage 
to  the  pupil  in  having  it  reduced  to  a  written  form.  If,  however, 
this  seems  desirable,  such  questions  should  be  mimeographed 
for  the  pupils,  or  written  out  in  advance  of  the  lesson  on  the 
board. 

In  a  school  in  which  it  is  the  custom  for  the  teacher  to  give  a  five- 
minute  written  test  at  the  beginning  of  the  period,  it  was  discovered 


140  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

that  in  a  considerable  number  of  cases  three  minutes  of  this  time  were 
spent  in  giving  out  the  questions  and  only  two  minutes  devoted  to 
answering  them.  In  other  words,  this  valuable  exercise  was  reduced 
by  more  than  half  simply  because  these  teachers  did  not  furnish  the 
questions  in  advance.  In  another  school  a  teacher  of  history  spent 
several  minutes  daily  in  giving  out  questions  to  be  answered  in  the 
following  day's  recitation.  Out  of  fifty  recitations  recorded  by  the 
writer  an  average  of  three  and  one-half  minutes  was  lost  in  require- 
ments similar  to  these  just  described.  In  several  instances  ten  min- 
utes were  used  for  such  purposes. 

The  following  instances  illustrate  economies  in  class  procedure 
through  cutting  down  unnecessary  copying  to  the  minimum: 

In  a  class  in  history  it  was  the  teacher's  custom  to  begin  each  class 
period  with  a  brief  written  quiz.  The  questions  were  written  on  the 
board  in  advance  of  the  lesson,  each  question  being  numbered.  The 
pupils  in  answering  the  questions,  did  not  copy  them,  but  merely  in- 
dicated the  numbers. 

In  written  exercises  in  geometry  in  which  the  construction  of  figures 
was  not  important,  the  teacher  provided  the  pupils  with  sheets  of 
paper  on  which  the  figures  were  hectographed.  This  work  required 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher  but  a  few  minutes  for  each  exercise,  but 
it  saved  during  the  course  of  the  semester  about  five  hours  of  the 
pupils'  time,  according  to  the  instructor's  estimate.  This  time  was 
devoted  to  actual  proof  of  the  theorems  involved. 

In  a  class  in  German  the  teacher  placed  the  exercises  to  be  trans- 
lated from  German  to  English  or  vice  versa,  clearly  written  and  ap- 
propriately spaced,  on  the  board  in  advance  of  the  recitation.  The 
pupils  wrote  the  correct  translation  underneath.  In  this  way  about 
a  third  of  the  time  formerly  spent  at  the  board  was  saved. 

(c)  Profitless  requirements  in  written  work. — Not  only  should 
a  pupil  be  freed  from  all  unnecessary  taking  of  dictation  and  all 
useless  copying  of  questions,  he  should  be  exempt  also  from  all 
profitless  forms  of  written  work.  There  is  no  merit  in  requiring  a 
pupil  to  write  down  a  long  column  of  figures  in  order  that  he  may 
place  the  correct  answer  at  the  bottom.  The  valuable  mental 
process  is  the  addition  of  the  digits,  and  in  this  connection  the 


ELIMINATING  WASTE   IN  THE   CLASSROOM  141 

writing  of  the  numbers  is  of  no  significance.  It  is  clearly  a  waste 
of  time  to  reply  in  written  form  with  an  entire  sentence  when 
one  word  is  all  that  is  needed  to  convey  the  thought  desired. 
Of  course,  if  the  work  involves  drill  in  complete  English  expres- 
sion this  is  another  matter,  but  when  it  concerns  itself  merely 
with  the  statement  of  a  single  fact  all  additional  words  are  of  no 
value. 

This  principle  is  important  to  keep  in  mind  in  conducting  rapid 
drill  exercises  and  in  giving  brief  written  quizzes  and  tests.  It  is  de- 
sirable to  secure  as  much  drill  as  possible  in  a  given  time,  and  every- 
thing that  is  superfluous  should  be  eliminated.  It  would  be  a  great 
advance  in  economy  to  provide  every  class  in  algebra,  for  example, 
with  sets  of  printed  exercises  in  the  fundamental  operations,  and  re- 
quire the  pupils  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  do  the  work  indicated.  The 
saving  in  the  aggregate  would  be  tremendous.  Any  teacher  of  this 
subject  who  can  secure  mimeographed  materials  for  class  use  would 
do  well  to  prepare  such  a  series  of  exercises. 

In  brief  quizzes  it  is  often  possible  to  construct  the  questions  in  the 
form  of  the  completion  tests  of  the  psychologists,  preparing  sufficient 
copies  for  each  member  of  the  class.  In  these  exercises  single  words 
or  groups  of  words  are  omitted,  and  the  test  consists  in  supplying 
the  right  words.  Historical  facts,  such  as  dates,  names  of  important 
personages,  and  the  location  of  cities  could  be  brought  out  in  this 
way.  Such  tests  would  have  two  distinct  advantages.  In  the  first 
place,  as  we  have  already  said,  they  would  economize  the  time  of  the 
pupil,  and  in  the  second  place,  they  would  greatly  shorten  the  task 
of  the  teacher  in  his  work  of  examination  and  correction.  The  chief 
objection  to  devices  of  this  sort  is  the  difficulty  of  providing  the  ma- 
terials; yet  the  saving  in  such  methods  is  obviously  so  great  that 
teachers  should  make  a  determined  effort  to  obtain  these  materials. 
At  present  the  fault  lies  largely  with  the  teachers,  who  are  not  alive 
to  the  problem  of  the  elimination  of  waste. 

(d)  Useless  assignments. — In  connection  with  the  discussion  of 
wastes  arising  from  demanding  unnecessary  work  from  the 
pupils  the  question  of  useless  assignments  properly  belongs. 


142  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

However,  since  this  is  a  matter  that  relates  directly  to  classroom 
methods,  extensive  consideration  of  the  topic  cannot  be  under- 
taken here.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  many  teachers  give 
to  their  pupils  the  task  of  looking  up  materials  in  connection  with 
their  work  when  a  large  amount  of  time  is  consumed  in  obtaining 
a  very  small  result.  In  such  cases  it  is  far  better  to  tell  the  pupil 
the  fact  or  principle  directly,  in  order  that  his  time  may  be  more 
profitably  employed,  unless  it  is  desired  to  give  him  practice  in 
investigation  and  research. 

The  Physical  Condition  of  the  Pupil  is  an  Important 
Consideration  from  the  Standpoint  of  Economy  in  Teach- 
ing.— We  ordinarily  regard  the  question  of  the  health  of  the 
pupil  as  a  matter  in  itself  of  prime  importance.  Considered 
alone  it  is  a  sufficient  end.  However,  it  is  also  important  in 
connection  with  other  matters,  among  which  economy  in  in- 
struction is  not  the  least.  It  is  a  fact  so  obvious  that  it  needs  no 
discussion  that  the  pupil,  to  work  under  the  best  mental  condi- 
tions, must  be  in  a  satisfactory  physical  condition.  To  enter  into 
the  details  of  the  hygiene  of  the  schoolroom,  of  the  course  of 
study,  and  of  the  pupil  is  quite  beyond  the  province  of  this 
present  chapter.  There  are,  however,  matters  that  may  be 
profitably  touched  on  in  passing.  Among  these  are  the  self- 
evident  facts  that  the  pupil  must  have  ordinary  sensory  acuity, 
that  he  must  be  free  from  disease  and  weakness,  and  that  he 
must  not  be  worked  to  the  point  of  excessive  fatigue.  Of  these 
various  considerations  the  last  named  will  be  briefly  considered 
at  this  point. 

(a)  The  problem  of  mental  fatigue  in  relation  to  school  work. — 
There  is  no  opportunity  here  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the 
nature  of  fatigue,  or  to  draw  a  sharp  distinction  between  muscu- 
lar and  nervous  fatigue.  However,  it  should  be  pointed  out  that 
mental  fatigue  as  distinguished  from  physical  is  the  fatigue  that 
arises  in  connection  with  mental  work,  or  work  primarily  mental, 
of  which  the  ordinary  school  occupations  are  examples.    Further, 


ELIMINATING  WASTE  IN  THE  CLASSROOM  143 


the  fact  should  be  emphasized  that  much  of  the  so-called  mental 
fatigue  of  a  school  day  is  not  fatigue  in  the  sense  of  exhaustion 
to  such  a  point  that  the  work  cannot  be  done  with  reasonable 
rapidity  and  accuracy.  It  is  in  reality  distaste  for  the  work, 
ennui,  and  the  increasing  desire  to  do  other  things  that  are  more 
interesting. 

There  is  abundant  evidence  from  investigations  in  the  psychology 
of  learning  that  severe  mental  tasks  can  be  carried  on  for  hours  with 
but  slight  falling  off  in  the  output,  if  only  the  subject  will  put  forth 
all  his  attention  and  energy.  Perhaps  at  the  end  of  six  hours  of  sus- 
tained work  in  addition  his  ability  has  fallen  off  less  than  ten  per  cent. 
It  is  doubtless  the  same  in  school  work.  The  pupil  who  is  really 
eager  to  do  his  task,  or  is  determined  to  carry  it  through  to  the 
finish,  can  work  long  periods  without  showing  evidences  of  fatigue. 

Whatever  the  cause  of  fatigue,  whatever  its  nature,  its  pres- 
ence in  any  form  is  evidently  wasteful.  If  the  pupil  does  less 
work,  and  poorer  work  because  he  is  tired  of  his  task,  then  he  is 
doing  this  work  under  relatively  unsatisfactory  conditions. 
These  conditions  must  be  removed  if  possible. 

(b)  The  question  of  the  alternation  of  periods  of  work  and  rest. — 
In  the  industries  it  has  been  discovered  that  the  greatest  output 
cannot  be  secured  by  requiring  the  operatives  to  work  every 
minute  of  the  day.  It  is  advantageous  to  have  frequent  rest 
periods  of  a  few  minutes  in  length,  and  a  few  periods  of  rest  of 
longer  duration.  Doubtless  a  similar  plan  would  be  advan- 
tageous in  arranging  the  school  program.  While  the  optimal 
distribution  of  periods  of  work  and  of  rest  has  not  been  more 
than  superficially  determined,  and  then  only  in  individual  in- 
stances, it  is  probably  true  that  the  arrangement  of  the  school 
day  in  many  of  our  high  schools  is  extremely  poor  when  con- 
sidered from  the  standpoint  of  the  reduction  of  mental  fatigue 
to  its  lowest  possible  point.  Some  schools  begin  their  session  at 
half-past  eight  or  nine  and  continue  with  only  a  brief  recess  until 


144  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

the  early  hours  of  the  afternoon.  When  this  time  schedule  is  in 
force  teachers  often  report  that  the  pupils  seem  to  be  too  dull, 
tired,  and  uninterested  in  their  work  to  accomplish  anything 
worth  while  in  the  last  school  period.  Doubtless  a  much  better 
arrangement  for  the  high  school  program  would  be  to  have  both 
morning  and  afternoon  sessions  with  reasonably  frequent 
pauses  between  periods.  Some  high  schools  have  recognized  the 
desirability  of  this  by  having  a  ten-minute  intermission  between 
every  two  recitation  periods. 

In  considering  the  question  of  rest  periods  in  the  school  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  value  of  such  periods  for  the  industries,  it 
is  well  to  remember  that  there  are  certain  fundamental  differ- 
ences between  the  types  of  work  done  in  the  school  and  in  the 
factory.  In  the  first  place,  the  work  done  in  the  factory  is  more 
largely  physical  than  work  done  in  the  school.  Since  physical 
work  is  more  rapidly  fatiguing  than  is  mental,  periods  of  rest, 
particularly  in  the  heavier  operations,  must  be  more  frequent. 
In  the  second  place,  factory  occupations  as  a  rule  have  little 
diversity,  and  hence  more  quickly  become  monotonous  than  do 
those  tasks  that  have  a  variety  of  aspects.  Doubtless  a  girl  whose 
business  consists  in  folding  handkerchiefs  according  to  a  uniform 
scheme  for  eight  hours  daily  can  find  nothing  in  the  work  itself 
that  is  interesting.  On  the  other  hand  a  pupil  who  is  working  at 
an  original  in  geometry  may  constantly  get  new  points  of  view 
that  keep  his  mind  alert  and  his  attention  active.  Finally,  in 
the  shop  the  task  assigned  is  of  such  a  simple  nature  that  it  can 
readily  be  taken  up  or  dropped  without  any  considerable  adapta- 
tion of  the  attention.  In  a  school  task  on  the  other  hand  it  is 
obvious  that  many  subjects  demand  a  considerable  time  for 
merely  getting  started  and  oriented.  Under  such  conditions 
frequent  alternation  between  work  and  rest  would  be  disad- 
vantageous. 

This  may  be  made  evident  by  an  example.  The  girl  who  is  folding 
handkerchiefs  according  to  a  method  in  which  she  is  habituated  can 


ELIMINATING  WASTE  IN  THE  CLASSROOM  145 

perhaps  profitably  pause  for  two  minutes  out  of  ten.  She  can  drop 
her  work  instantly  and  go  back  to  it  with  practically  no  loss  in  atten- 
tion. On  the  other  hand  a  pupil  who  is  working  on  a  composition  in 
English  would  find  such  an  arrangement  of  work  and  rest  periods  de- 
cidedly to  his  disadvantage.  He  would  just  get  into  the  swing  of 
his  work  when  he  would  be  compelled  to  drop  it.  In  school  work  the 
simple  drill  exercises  approach  most  nearly  the  type  of  work  done  in 
many  factories  and  shops.  In  such  exercises  there  can  profitably  be 
frequent  periods  of  rest.  In  the  high  school  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no 
drill  exercises  should  be  carried  on  without  a  break  for  a  period  of 
over  thirty  minutes.  There  seems  to  be  some  evidence  for  this  asser- 
tion not  only  from  the  findings  of  experience  but  also  from  those  of 
educational  psychology.1  Therefore,  few  class  periods  should  be 
devoted  entirely  to  simple  drill  exercises. 

Some  of  the  conclusions  that  may  reasonably  be  drawn  from 
the  above  considerations  are: — In  a  high  school  session  contain- 
ing six  or  seven  periods  of  recitation  and  study,  there  should  be 
at  least  one  long  recess  period,  together  with  two  or  three  shorter 
rest  periods.  Perhaps  these  latter  should  be  slightly  increased  in 
length  as  the  day  advances.  In  class  exercises  there  should  be 
sufficient  variety  in  the  work  to  relieve  the  monotony  that  is  one 
of  the  chief  causes  of  fatigue  in  some  of  the  industrial  occupa- 
tions. When  the  class  work  is  of  the  nature  of  drill,  rest  and 
change  should  come  more  frequently  than  when  the  work  is  less 
mechanical  and  in  itself  has  more  varied  elements. 

The  Mental  Attitude  of  the  Worker  has  much  to  do  with 
his  Efficiency. — Investigators  and  workers  in  the  field  of  "scien- 
tific management"  in  the  industries  have  invariably  found  that 
no  plan  of  waste-elimination  is  productive  of  results  unless  the 
attitude  of  the  workman  is  satisfactory.  The  employee  who  has 
no  "appetite  for  his  job,"  whose  sole  interest  is  merely  in  "get- 
ting by"  with  as  little  effort  as  possible,  who  takes  pride  in 

1  See  W.  H.  Pyle,  Economical  learning,  Jour,  of  Ed.  Psychol.,  Vol.  IV., 
pp.  148-158  (1913)- 


146  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

shirking  when  he  can  escape  detection,  who  watches  the  clock 
more  than  he  does  his  machine,  will  do  a  low  grade  of  work  under 
any  system  of  management.  Further,  the  workman  who  is 
worried,  discouraged,  or  at  odds  with  the  foreman,  is  seldom 
efficient.  For  these  reasons  wise  industrial  managers  have  paid 
more  attention  to  plans  for  making  the  workman's  attitude 
toward  his  work  energetic,  eager,  and  cheerful  than  they  have 
to  methods  of  accounting,  to  schemes  for  systematizing  supplies, 
stores,  and  tools,  to  devices  for  the  proper  routing  of  materials 
and  the  assembly  of  finished  parts,  and  to  details  of  correct 
workmanship.  Clearly  it  is  as  essential  for  the  pupil  to  have  a 
proper  attitude  toward  his  task  as  it  is  for  the  employee  in  an 
industrial  establishment. 

(a)  The  problem  of  the  child's  attitude  toward  his  work  is  not 
merely  a  question  of  efficiency;  it  is  likewise  a  matter  that  concerns 
mental  hygiene. — Attitudes  that  make  work  more  efficient,  that 
benefit  behavior  may  be  considered  as  essentially  healthful, 
those  that  injure  behavior,  that  make  it  uncertain,  irregular,  and 
lower  its  value  are  as  truly  unhygienic  as  are  those  physical 
conditions  that  lower  the  efficiency  of  the  body.  Some  of  the 
attitudes  that  are  obviously  unhygienic  are  worry,  fear,  dis- 
couragement, lack  of  self-confidence,  and  all  forms  of  excessive 
excitement  and  undue  depression.  Obviously  there  is  tremen- 
dous waste  in  all  work  done  under  such  conditions,  and  the 
teacher  must  do  all  in  his  power  to  eliminate  them,  not  only 
for  the  sake  of  the  work,  but  also  for  the  mental  health  of 
the  pupil. 

(b)  Dissatisfaction  in  the  task  is  a  serious  menace  to  all  efficient 
workmanship. — This  attitude  is  unfortunately  extremely  com- 
mon in  school  work,  but  it  is  one  difficult  to  describe  accurately, 
and  still  more  difficult  to  eliminate.  The  dissatisfaction  is  often 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  learner  sees  no  significance  in  his  task.  It 
means  nothing  to  him,  either  in  itself  or  in  its  consequences. 
The  healthful  attitude  of  mind  is  to  undertake  one's  work  with 


ELIMINATING   WASTE   IN   THE   CLASSROOM  147 

cheerfulness  and  zest,  but  this  attitude  cannot  be  present  when 
the  work  is  distasteful  either  in  its  immediate  performance  or 
in  its  results.  In  order  that  school  tasks  be  performed  without 
tremendous  wastes,  the  teacher  must  in  some  way  make  the 
work  seem  worth  while  either  in  itself  or  in  its  relations  to  some- 
thing else  that  appeals  as  distinctly  worth  while. 

One  of  the  greatest  problems  in  education  today  is  to  make  it 
appear  valuable  to  those  pursuing  it.  This  applies  to  every  stage  of 
education  from  the  primary  grades  of  the  elementary  school  through 
the  college  and  university.  This  need  is  less  in  evidence  in  vocational 
and  technical  education  than  elsewhere,  but  it  exists  here.  The  college 
youth  often  seems  to  look  upon  the  "general"  and  "cultural"  courses 
in  the  curriculum  as  little  short  of  a  joke.  "Student  activities,"  so- 
called,  are  seldom  studious  activities;  they  are  not  scholarly  or  in- 
tellectual. The  vast  majority  of  youths  who  are  pursuing  academic 
education  see  little  relationship  between  it  and  life.  This  attitude 
is  surely  abnormal.  Often,  perhaps  always,  the  doing  of  something 
with  no  genuine  purpose  is  worse  than  doing  nothing  at  all.  It  surely 
is  worse  than  doing  anything  that  appeals  to  the  learner  from  the 
positive  standpoint.  In  earlier  times  this  belief  in  the  lack  of  a  genuine 
value  in  a  college  education  resulted  in  all  sorts  of  irresponsible  and 
even  vicious  forms  of  behavior  among  college  students.  Fortunately 
today  athletics  and  social  functions  provide  something  that  is  seem- 
ingly worth  while,  and  they  are  doubtless  important  factors  in  con- 
tributing to  the  sanity  of  college  men  and  women.  No  one  interested 
in  education,  however,  can  but  regret  the  fact  that  often  poise  and 
intellectual  soundness  are  not  secured  through  college  studies  them- 
selves, but  rather  through  outside  activities. 

Similar  conditions  confront  the  pupil  in  the  high  school.  In  so 
far  as  the  work  lacks  purpose  for  him,  in  so  far  as  he  thinks  of  it  as  a 
mere  formal  exercise,  an  unhealthy  attitude  of  mind  is  created  toward 
his  work,  except  in  those  rare  instances  when  the  work  is  in  and  of 
itself  pleasurable  and  is  performed  in  the  spirit  of  play.  As  a  rule  the 
desire  of  activity  for  activity's  sake  is  woefully  insufficient,  especially 
when  the  pupil  has  reached  the  age  when  adult  life-interests  begin  to 
develop. 


I48  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

(c)  There  are  various  motives  that  may  vitalize  school  work. — 
Some  of  these  have  already  been  discussed  in  some  detail,  and 
others  will  be  amplified  later.1  They  will  be  but  briefly  referred 
to  here.  We  have  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  vocational 
motive  is  compelling.  Further,  many  pupils  find  a  strong  incen- 
tive in  their  desire  to  obtain  high  marks  or  other  evidences  of 
school  achievement.  However,  marks  are  often  ineffectual,  and 
are  always  in  danger  of  being  over  emphasized  especially  when 
the  spirit  of  rivalry  is  excessively  developed.  There  is,  neverthe- 
less, a  means  by  which  the  school  work  can  be  made  significant 
to  most  pupils  and  one  that  fortunately  possesses  no  inherent 
dangers  and  is  seldom  carried  to  an  extreme.  This  has  been  re- 
ferred to  at  various  times  in  our  discussions,  as  the  social,  or 
cooperative  motive  in  class  work.  Several  examples  have  been 
given  on  previous  pages.2   One  further  will  suffice  here. 

The  writer  recalls  a  fifth  grade  class  in  which  the  mental  attitude 
of  the  pupils  was  thoroughly  sound  and  healthful,  and  in  which  as  a 
result  the  work  was  unusually  good.  To  a  great  extent  this  attitude 
was  secured  because  the  teacher  made  it  her  aim  to  develop  on  the 
part  of  the  pupils  a  spirit  of  cooperation  in  each  and  every  lesson. 
It  was  her  custom  to  send  certain  children  to  the  public  library  to 
select  books  that  were  suitable  for  the  class  to  use  as  collateral  read- 
ing in  American  history.  These  pupils  not  only  selected  the  books, 
but  they  told  the  class  the  reasons  for  their  choice,  and  the  most 
important  points  in  the  books  as  they  related  to  class  work.  Other 
pupils  brought  to  the  school  post-cards  and  magazine  clippings  for 
exhibition  when  the  class  was  discussing  foreign  travel  in  connection 
with  geography,  or  with  daily  happenings  in  their  study  of  current 
events.  Some  of  the  children  prepared  questions  in  their  various 
lessons  to  ask  others.  Some  were  sent  to  the  board  to  do  exercises 
in  number  work,  and  others  went  as  critics  and  teachers,  who  watched 
for  the  mistakes  of  their  mates  and  pointed  them  out  and  corrected 
them.   Indeed,  all  of  the  class  in  some  way,  according  to  the  individual 

1  See  Chapter  II.,  pp.  27,  28;  Chapter  IV.,  p.  72  f. 

2  See  particularly  Chapter  II.,  p.  28. 


ELIMINATING  WASTE   IN  THE   CLASSROOM  149 

ability  of  its  members,  were  encouraged  to  do  something  to  add  to 
the  lesson.  The  class  was  always  eager  and  attentive.  It  could 
literally  run  itself  with  the  teacher  out  of  the  room  for  a  period  of 
half  an  hour.  The  reason  why  the  high  degree  of  cooperation  was 
possible  was  due  to  two  facts.  The  teacher  had  studied  the  individual 
ability  and  interests  of  each  pupil,  and  had  found  something  that 
every  member  could  do,  and  she  had  so  mechanized  the  routine  of  the 
classroom  that  attention  could  be  given  to  more  important  matters. 

The  method  of  attacking  the  school  work  which  makes  the 
pupil  a  contributor  as  well  as  a  leaner  is  one  of  the  chief  means 
by  which  the  value  of  school  tasks  may  be  made  to  appear 
significant  to  the  pupil.  It  is  certain  at  least  that  unless  this  or 
some  other  method  is  devised  for  securing  a  proper  attitude 
toward  school  occupations,  work  in  all  grades  is  destined  to 
prove  a  sorry  failure;  and  even  worse  than  the  failure  of  the 
work  itself  is  the  failure  of  the  pupil  to  find  anything  worth  while 
in  his  school  activities.  This  can  result  only  in  a  most  unsound 
and  dangerous  mental  attitude  that  is  likely  to  be  carried  from 
the  schoolroom  into  life  itself,  and  which  is  sure  to  entail  most 
serious  consequences. 

Methods  of  Instruction  and  of  Learning  may  be  Classified 
as  Economical  or  Wasteful. — In  comparing  conditions  in  the 
school  with  those  in  the  industries  we  find  that  there  is  a  close 
resemblance  in  the  question  of  waste-elimination  not  only  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  physical  conditions  of  the  working  place, 
the  physical  condition  of  the  worker,  and  his  attitude  toward  his 
work,  but  also  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  actual  processes 
involved  in  doing  the  work.  The  pupil  may  have  wasteful 
methods  of  learning,  just  as  the  workman  has  wasteful  methods 
of  doing  his  task;  the  teacher  may  have  wasteful  methods  of 
instruction,  just  as  the  foreman  and  the  boss  have  wasteful 
methods  of  supervision  and  direction.  In  the  shop  and  the 
factory  the  problem  of  efficiency  is  in  this  respect,  as  we  have 
previously  seen,  the  problem  of  trie  elimination  of  wasteful 


150  INTRODUCTION   TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

motions,  primarily  physical,  and  secondarily  mental;  in  the 
classroom  and  study-hall  the  corresponding  problem  is  likewise 
the  elimination  of  wasteful  motions,  primarily  mental,  and 
secondarily  physical.  The  consideration  of  this  problem  in 
relation  to  the  schools  might  well  be  discussed  here.  However, 
in  succeeding  chapters  on  methods  of  instruction  and  on  the 
economy  of  study  it  will  be  considered  in  detail.  At  the  present 
we  shall  briefly  mention  some  of  the  greatest  sources  of  waste 
that  arise  from  faulty  methods  of  instruction. 

Chief  among  these  are  uneconomical  methods  of  testing  the 
knowledge  of  the  pupil,  roundabout  and  unpsychological  meth- 
ods of  drill,  wasteful  and  unskilful  methods  of  questioning, 
vague  statements  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  and  the  pupils,  and 
often  a  total  lack  of  any  adequate  lesson  plan.  These  sources  of 
waste  together  with  others  that  primarily  relate  to  methods  of 
instruction  will  be  treated  under  separate  topics  in  later  parts  of 
this  book. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD. — TESTING  THE  KNOWLEDGE 
OF  THE  PUPIL 

The  Three  Fundamental  Methods  of  Class  Instruction. — 

There  are  three  main  methods  of  class  instruction,  namely, — to 
test  the  knowledge  of  the  pupil  a,nd  measure  his  progress  in  acts 
of  skill;  to  drill  and  perfect  the  pupil  in  knowledge  and  skill  that 
he  has  partly  acquired,  and  to  add  to  the  knowledge  and  tech- 
nical ability  that  he  already  possesses.  Each  of  these  three 
methods  involves  definite  means  for  their  attainment,  and  the 
entire  problem  of  instruction  in  the  high  school  may  be  definitely 
related  to  them.  In  so  far  as  these  methods  are  adequately  and 
economically  realized,  instruction  is  a  success;  in  so  far  as  they 
are  realized  inadequately  and  by  wasteful  and  incorrect  means, 
instruction  is  a  failure. 

Reasons  for  Testing  the  Knowledge  of  the  Pupil.— There 
are  various  reasons  why  it  is  necessary  to  test  the  knowledge  of 
the  pupil  in  class  exercises.  The  most  important  are  the  follow- 
ing:— 

(a)  The  test  for  knowledge  holds  the  pupil  down  to  his  tasks. — 
It  would  be  impossible  to  obtain  any  result  from  high  school 
courses  if  the  pupils  were  not  compelled  to  show  the  teacher 
from  time  to  time  what  their  achievement  is.  Indeed,  this  is  a 
compelling  motive  not  only  among  high  school  pupils  but  among 
all  classes  of  learners  as  well.  It  is  generally  true  that  advanced 
students  who  take  courses  not  for  credit,  and  who  do  not  submit 
themselves  to  the  required  tests  of  proficiency,  get  comparatively 
little  out  of  these  courses.  If  this  condition  holds  good  among 
adults  who  bring  a  genuine  interest  to  their  tasks,  how  much 

151 


152  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

more  true  is  it  among  boys  and  girls  in  the  high  school,  who  often 
have  little  interest  in  the  courses  as  such,  and  no  adequate  con- 
ception of  their  value. 

(b)  The  test  for  knowledge  enables  the  teacher  to  determine  the 
progress  of  the  pupil. — The  test  for  knowledge  should  reveal  to 
the  teacher  the  "content  of  his  pupils'  minds."  It  should  show 
him  how  well  the  learner  has  mastered  the  essential  facts,  has 
comprehended  the  fundamental  principles,  and  has  acquired  the 
requisite  facility  and  skill.  Unless  the  teacher  can  definitely 
know  these  things,  he  cannot  adequately  instruct  his  class  as  a 
group  or  as  individuals.  These  tests  as  a  rule  should  include 
more  than  the  ordinary  questions  and  quizzes  that  concern  the 
day's  recitation;  they  should  aim  to  discover  the  general  com- 
prehension and  skill  of  the  pupil.  In  courses  in  foreign  language, 
for  example,  there  should  be  tests  to  measure  the  pupil's  ability 
to  translate  at  sight  or  with  the  aid  of  the  dictionary;  in  courses 
in  geometry,  there  should  be  tests  to  determine  the  pupil's 
facility  in  solving  original  propositions;  in  courses  in  literature 
and  history,  there  should  be  some  means  of  testing  the  pupil's 
range  of  information,  and  historical  and  literary  appreciation. 
In  fact  in  all  subjects  there  should  be  "examinations  for 
power." 

It  is  likewise  important  that  these  tests  should  seek  to  dis- 
cover the  direction  and  the  nature  of  the  pupil's  errors.  Fre- 
quently the  teacher  knows  that  a  pupil  is  not  doing  good  work, 
but  does  not  know  the  reason  for  his  failure.  Often  the  difficulty 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  pupil  employs  some  wrong  process  or  has 
some  misleading  notion  that  prevents  him  from  making  progress. 
Studies  in  the  psychology  of  learning  frequently  show  that  after 
weeks  or  months  of  initial  advance  most  learners  reach  a  point 
at  which  further  progress  stops  for  a  time.  These  periods  of 
slight  improvement  or  total  lack  of  improvement  are  called 
"plateaus"  in  the  learning  curve.  There  is,  doubtless,  a  variety 
of  causes  for  these  plateaus,  but  in  many  instances  they  can  be 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 53 

traced  to  erroneous  methods  of  doing  work,  to  lack  of  under- 
standing in  regard  to  some  fundamental  fact  or  principle.  The 
teacher  should  frame  his  tests  to  discover  if  possible  why  the 
pupil  fails  to  make  progress. 

A  teacher  of  algebra  reports  decided  improvement  in  the  work 
done  by  his  class  as  a  whole  as  well  as  by  individuals  since  he  began 
the  practice  of  observing  and  recording  carefully  the  kinds  of  mistakes 
that  his  pupils  make  in  their  written  tests.  He  says, — "At  first,  this 
involved  a  large  amount  of  extra  work  on  my  part,  since  I  was  obliged 
to  read  the  papers  much  more  carefully  than  when  I  read  them  merely 
for  the  purpose  of  assigning  a  mark,  and  since  I  was  compelled  to 
work  out  a  method  of  recording  against  each  individual  the  kinds  of 
errors  he  made.  However,  after  a  time  I  gained  such  facility  in  know- 
ing just  where  to  direct  my  attention  in  reading  these  papers,  and  in 
recording  the  results  that  today  I  read  these  tests  as  rapidly  as  I 
did  before  I  adopted  my  present  method.  The  results,  as  far  as  they 
relate  to  better  instruction  on  my  part  and  to  improvement  in  the 
work  done  by  the  class,  are  decided.  Under  the  old  method  I  worked 
more  or  less  in  the  dark,  though  at  the  time  I  did  not  realize  it.  I 
did  not  know,  for  example,  that  many  of  my  pupils  were  making  no 
progress  because  they  had  not  mastered  such  fundamental  processes 
as  the  changing  of  the  signs  of  quantities  on  removing  a  parenthesis 
when  it  is  preceded  by  a  minus  sign.  Of  course  in  a  vague  way  I 
sensed  such  facts,  but  I  had  to  'get  down  to  cases'  to  have  them 
properly  emphasized.  Now  I  know  just  where  the  weakness  of  each 
pupil  lies,  and  where  the  class  as  a  whole  is  having  dimculty.  As  a 
result,  I  no  longer  make  the  mistake  of  spending  time  in  the  class  to 
take  up  errors  that  but  a  few  pupils  make,  or  errors  that  are  made 
occasionally.  When  individual  pupils  are  at  fault,  I  work  with  them 
separately;  when  the  dimculty  concerns  a  large  number  in  the  class, 
I  try  to  clear  it  up  during  the  recitation  period.  I  have  been  amply 
repaid  for  the  time  and  effort  I  have  put  into  this  matter." 

A  teacher  of  history  has  kept  for  some  time  a  record  of  the  mis- 
takes made  by  pupils  during  the  recitation.  To  accomplish  this  he 
has  devised  a  classified  table  under  which  the  common  mistakes 
naturally  fall,  and  without  taking  his  attention  from  the  recitation 


154  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

he  is  able  to  check  off  these  mistakes  in  connection  with  the  individual 
pupils.  Among  the  interesting  facts  that  he  has  discovered  in  this 
way,  facts  that  he  never  even  suspected  before,  is  that  pupils  tend  to 
make  the  same  general  type  of  errors  day  after  day.  There  are  some, 
for  example,  whose  difficulty  obviously  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  get 
parts  of  expressions  from  the  text  without  clearly  understanding  their 
significance,  and  commit  these  imperfectly  to  memory.  They  con- 
stantly use  this  method  of  studying  their  lessons,  and  as  a  result 
make  no  real  progress  in  their  work.  There  are  some  pupils  who  have 
the  habit  of  transposing  the  figures  in  a  date,  others  who  have  a 
rapidly  fading  memory,  others  who  can  recall  specific  details,  but  who 
cannot  retain  generalities  or  abstractions,  and  so  on  throughout  a 
somewhat  long  list.  The  knowledge  that  the  teacher  has  acquired 
in  the  course  of  keeping  this  record  he  finds  of  considerable  practical 
advantage  in  his  teaching,  and  also  of  no  small  interest  as  a  study  in 
individual  psychology.  He  feels  that  he  has  been  repaid  in  every  way 
for  the  additional  time  he  has  taken  to  devise  and  keep  this  record. 

A  teacher  of  English  uses  a  box  made  up  of  several  parts.  Each 
part  is  devoted  to  some  fundamental  error  that  he  finds  in  his  pupils' 
compositions.  When  he  has  examined  the  written  work  of  a  pupil 
he  places  the  pupil's  name  in  the  compartments  that  relate  to  the 
errors  found.  From  time  to  time  he  takes  the  names  out  of  the  box 
and  makes  a  permanent  record  of  the  difficulties  that  the  various 
pupils  have  made,  and  the  frequency  with  which  they  occur.  As 
the  work  progresses,  the  teacher  changes  the  kind  of  errors  that  he 
is  observing,  as  he  emphasizes  now  one  aspect  of  the  subject,  now 
another. 

(c)  The  test  for  knowledge  serves  as  a  means  for  review. — 
Not  the  least  important  of  the  functions  of  the  test  for 
knowledge  as  a  classroom  exercise  is  that  it  serves  as  a 
method  of  review.  When  quizzes  and  examinations  are 
employed  with  this  purpose  in  mind  the  following  considera- 
tions are  important: 

A  well-organized  review  lesson  should  emphasize  the  more  essen- 
tial points  and  disregard  exceptions  and  minor  details. — It  is 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 55 

obviously  impossible  for  pupils  to  keep  in  mind  all  of  the  mate- 
rials found  in  text-books  or  presented  in  class  discussion.  The 
test  for  knowledge  as  a  review  lesson  should  be  a  means  of  em- 
phasizing the  most  important  phases  of  the  work  and  properly 
organizing  it. 

Review  lessons  should  be  carefully  distributed  according  to  a 
definite  plan. — There  is  no  fact  more  clearly  demonstrated  in  the 
psychology  of  learning  than  that  it  is  extremely  essential  to  recall 
materials  to  be  remembered  not  once,  but  over  a  considerable 
period  of  time.  If  it  is  possible  to  give  an  hour  to  the  review  of 
certain  parts  of  the  class  work  during  a  term,  it  yields  much 
better  results  when  this  review  is  extended  over  several  lessons 
than  when  it  is  concentrated  in  a  single  lesson  at  the  end  of  the 
term.  For  this  reason  short  quizzes  frequently  given  are  likely 
to  be  more  satisfactory  than  occasional,  long,  and  formal  tests. 
While  there  is  some  advantage  in  giving  set  examinations,  these 
should  not  be  the  only  means  of  holding  the  pupil  down  to  his 
work  and  testing  his  knowledge. 

Reviews  should  be  based  on  those  details  of  subject-matter  on 
which  the  pupils  are  known  to  be  weak. — In  making  out  written 
quizzes  for  the  purpose  of  review  exercises,  the  teacher  should 
arrange  his  questions  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  emphatic  those 
details  of  the  work  with  which  the  class  is  finding  difficulty.  In 
this  way  he  can  make  the  pupils  aware  of  their  deficiences,  and 
give  them  an  incentive  for  removing  them. 

(d)  The  test  for  knowledge  serves  as  a  basis  for  marking  the 
pupil. — In  any  school  system,  marks  to  indicate  the  attainment 
of  the  pupils  are  necessary,  Marks  serve  three  distinct  purposes. 
In  the  first  place,  they  are  essential  in  the  administration  of  the 
school.  They  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  promotion  of  individuals 
from  grade  to  grade,  class  to  class,  and  subject  to  subject.  They 
further  indicate  to  superintendents,  principals,  and  other  super- 
vising authorities  certain  important  facts  in  regard  to  the 
efficiency  of  methods  of  instruction,  the  ability  of  teachers,  and 


156  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

the  attainments  of  groups  of  pupils. *  In  recent  years  they  have  be- 
come a  very  important  element  in  an  adequate  "school  survey.' ' 

In  the  second  place,  marks,  if  properly  kept,  give  the  teacher 
a  permanent  record  for  estimating  the  progress  and  ability  of 
individual  pupils,  and  for  comparing  the  attainment  of  indi- 
viduals and  classes  from  year  to  year.  This  function  of  marks  is 
important,  but  unfortunately  most  teachers  do  not  sufficiently 
study  their  records  with  this  thought  in  view.  Further,  marks 
in  the  form  of  proper  school  records  should  prove  of  value  not 
only  to  the  teacher  who  records  them,  but  to  all  other  teachers 
in  the  school  system.  It  would  be  well  if  every  teacher  in  the 
high  school  could  study  the  scholastic  records  of  the  members  of 
each  new  class  that  comes  under  his  instruction.  Again,  in  so  far 
as  the  school  seeks  to  determine  particular  aptitudes  and  general 
abilities  of  individual  pupils,  marks  should  be  of  no  small  assist- 
ance.2 They  should  be  entered  on  record  cards  and  filed  in  such 
a  way  that  they  can  be  used  by  all  who  are  concerned  with  them. 

In  the  third  place,  as  has  been  previously  pointed  out,3  marks 
serve  as  incentives  to  pupils  in  their  school  work.  They  are 
objective  indications  of  attainment.  The  pupil  who  is  ambitious, 
who  cares  to  excel,  finds  an  immediate  objective  for  his  work  in 
the  grades  that  he  receives. 

The  Necessity  of  a  Properly  Devised  and  Administered 
Marking  System. — In  recent  years  there  has  been  a  revolt 

1  In  drawing  conclusions  from  studying  pupils'  grades  the  investigator 
should  make  sure  that  these  marks  are  derived  from  questions  of  the  same 
relative  degree  of  difficulty. 

2  It  seems  probable  that  in  the  near  future  one  of  the  important  functions 
of  the  high  school,  particularly  of  the  "junior  high  school"  will  be  that  of 
vocational  guidance.  It  will  be  the  business  of  teachers  and  supervising 
officials  to  discover  in  advance  what  sort  of  career  this  boy  and  this  girl  are 
best  suited  by  nature  and  training  to  enter  upon.  A  carefully  devised  and 
faithfully  recorded  set  of  marks  will  be  an  important  factor  in  determining 
the  life  occupations  of  these  young  people. 

3  Chapter  IV.,  p.  75. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 57 

against  much  of  the  barren  formalism  that  characterized  many 
of  the  phases  of  education  a  generation  ago,  and  in  this  revolt 
there  has  been  harsh,  and  at  times  a  just  criticism  of  the  "  mark- 
ing system"  as  it  has  been  termed.  There  have  been  many 
critics,  and  few  defenders.  The  obvious  defects  in  marking 
have  been  so  numerous,  and  so  readily  pointed  out,  that  until 
recently  the  critics  have  had  it  very  much  their  own  way. 

It  has  been  urged,  for  example,  that  marks  are  arbitrary,  and  not 
real  measures  of  attainment;  that  it  is  impossible  to  give  accurate 
marks;  that  at  best  they  are  mere  guesses  by  individuals,  as  shown  by 
the  fact  that  teachers  when  put  to  the  test  of  marking  certain  definite 
forms  of  school  work  show  no  consistency  of  judgment;  that  they  cul- 
tivate an  unwholesome  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  pupils  toward 
their  work;  that  they  encourage  undesirable  competition  among 
pupils;  that  they  emphasize  extrinsic  rather  than  intrinsic  interests 
in  the  subjects  of  the  curriculum;  that  they  cause  the  pupil  unneces- 
sary worry,  and  that  consequently  marking  may  lead  to  serious  con- 
sequences, particularly  in  the  case  of  ambitious  pupils  with  nervous 
temperaments. 

It  should  be  noted,  that  the  criticisms  directed  against  mark- 
ing, are  not  so  much  criticisms  against  marking  as  such  as  against 
improper  methods  of  marking.  In  reality  there  has  never  been  a 
marking  system,  but  rather  a  marking  practice  that  has  been 
anything  but  systematic.  It  has  grown  up  by  chance  rather 
than  because  of  any  foresight  on  the  part  of  those  who  devised 
it,  or  who  administer  it ,  If  we  are  willing  to  admit  that  marks 
in  and  of  themselves  are  not  an  evil,  but  possess  a  positive  value, 
and  from  this  conclusion  there  seems  no  possibility  of  escape, 
then  it  is  extremely  important  that  our  methods  of  marking  shall 
be  the  best  possible.  That  our  present  methods  are  entirely 
inadequate  and  unsatisfactory  no  one  who  knows  the  facts  can 
doubt,  but  their  inadequacy  cannot  be  remedied  by  reducing 
marks  to  a  minimum,  by  making  them  less  exact  and  more 
fragmentary  than  they  are  at  present,  but  by  extending  present 


158  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

methods  in  the  direction  of  greater  exactness  and  completeness, 
and  by  devising  new  and  more  significant  methods.  There  are 
certain  obvious  reforms  that  should  be  made  in  the  marking 
system  if  it  is  to  serve  as  a  satisfactory  incentive  and  measure  of 
school  achievement. 

(a)  In  the  first  place  we  must  find,  if  possible,  for  most  school 
subjects  an  objective  scale  by  whith  the  attainment  of  the  pupil  can 
be  measured  both  absolutely  and  relatively. — We  must  have  def- 
inite grades  of  excellence  from  zero  to  a  hundred  and  we  must  be 
able  to  place  with  tolerable  accuracy  any  sample  of  school  work 
in  a  given  subject  somewhere  on  this  scale.  Then  a  pupil,  when 
he  is  given  a  grade  of  40,  65,  or  80,  for  example,  will  know  just 
where  he  is  in  terms  of  his  own  progress  and  in  terms  of  his 
relation  to  others  who  have  secured  higher  or  lower  marks. 

Many  have  doubted  that  such  an  objective  scale  is  possible  in 
any  genuine  sense.  They  have  affirmed  that  intellectual  attainment 
is  in  terms  of  mind  and  that  mind  cannot  be  measured.  As  to  this 
objection,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  none  of  the  scales  so  far  devised 
for  measuring  school  achievement  seeks  to  measure  a  mental  state 
as  such;  they  measure  results,  they  evaluate  the  objective  achieve- 
ment of  the  pupil,  not  a  subtle,  hidden  something.  The  fact  that  an 
objective  scale  is  possible  in  measuring  school  achievements  has  been 
clearly  demonstrated  by  the  Courtis  tests  in  arithmetic,  which  have 
already  proved  of  the  greatest  value  to  teachers  and  administrative 
officers.  In  a  less  measure  the  handwriting  scales  devised  by  Thorn- 
dike  and  Ayres  have  demonstrated  their  value.  Scales  in  spelling, 
English  composition,  reading,  algebra,  and  various  other  subjects 
have  been  worked  out,  or  are  in  the  process  of  being  constructed. 
Some  of  these  are  still  crude,  but  any  one  that  is  carefully  devised 
by  a  competent  investigator  is  sure  to  be  better  than  no  scale  at  all. 
The  attempt  to  secure  objective  standards  as  a  test  of  individual  and 
group  attainment  is  one  of  the  most  important  fields  of  activity  of 
the  new  experimental  education. 

(b)  //  is  not  only  important  to  devise  carefully  determined  ob- 
jective scales  for  marking  pupils;  it  is  likewise  necessary  that  the 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 59 

teacher  use  such  scales  as  conscientiously  as  possible. — At  present 
many  teachers,  particularly  those  of  high  school  grade,  look 
upon  marking  as  a  necessary  evil.  They  often  mark  in  a  per- 
functory, and  in  a  careless  way.  They  consider  marking  a 
burden,  and  they  slight  this  part  of  their  school  duties  as  much 
as  possible.  When  a  teacher  does  not  consider  it  a  part  of  his 
function  to  mark  carefully  and  intelligently,  the  pupils  under  him 
soon  discover  the  fact,  and  the  whole  situation  reacts  unfavora- 
bly for  them.  On  the  other  hand,  if  pupils  believe  that  their 
marks  fairly  represent  their  attainment  they  are  sure  to  have 
a  better  attitude  toward  their  work.  Further,  it  should  be  kept 
in  mind  that  if  a  pupil  is  kept  in  ignorance  in  regard  to  his  real 
achievement,  if  he  is  not  marked  in  such  a  way  that  he  knows 
when  he  has  failed  and  why  he  has  failed,  he  is  likely  to  stumble 
along  in  the  dark,  making  no  progress  because  he  has  no  idea 
in  what  direction  progress  lies,  and  no  knowledge  whether  he  is 
advancing  or  falling  back. 

It  is  the  custom  of  some  teachers  who  have  a  large  amount  of  writ- 
ten work  to  correct  to  do  much  of  this  in  a  perfunctory  manner,  with 
the  result  that  the  pupil  has  no  conception  of  how  he  is  progressing 
in  this  part  of  his  school  tasks.  For  example,  a  teacher  of  English 
composition  in  a  large  city  high  school  makes  it  a  practice  to  throw 
into  the  waste-paper  basket  the  majority  of  the  brief  themes  of  his 
pupils,  taking  up  a  few  at  haphazard  for  comment  and  correction  in 
the  class.  As  a  result,  it  is  doubtful  if  this  work  in  composition  is  of 
any  material  value  to  the  pupils.  It  is  a  well-established  principle 
of  educational  psychology  that  practice  without  knowledge  of  results 
is  of  little  value.  In  contrast  to  this  practice  is  that  of  a  second  Eng- 
lish teacher  who  has  in  recent  years  cut  down  his  requirements  in 
writing  by  one  half.  He  finds  time  at  present  to  read  carefully  all  of 
the  compositions  handed  in  to  him,  and  to  mark  these  in  such  a  way 
that  the  pupils  understand  their  errors.  These  errors  are  corrected 
by  the  pupils  making  them,  and  the  compositions  again  submitted 
to  the  teacher.  He  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  revision  of  his  former 
procedure  has  improved  the  quality  of  the  written  work  of  his  pupils. 


l6o  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL   TEACHING 

To  test  out  the  effect  of  such  a  procedure,  a  teacher  of  high  school 
English,  who  was  a  student  in  the  seminary  of  experimental  educa- 
tion at  Brown  University,  devised  and  conducted  an  experiment  the 
results  of  which  have  not  as  yet  been  published.  He  divided  a  class 
in  English  into  two  sections  of  approximately  equal  ability  as  deter- 
mined by  previous  tests.  To  one  of  these  sections  he  gave  ten  minutes 
of  practice  in  writing  daily  for  half  a  year.  The  other  section  was 
not  given  this  practice.  The  results  of  this  daily  practice  were  in  no 
way  marked  or  criticised.  At  the  end  of  the  practice,  which  amounted 
in  all  to  approximately  fifteen  hours,  the  two  sections  were  carefully 
tested  again  in  regard  to  their  ability  in  composition,  and  it  was  found 
that  the  section  that  had  not  received  the  daily  practice  showed 
slightly  greater  improvement  than  the  section  that  had  been  given 
the  drill  distributed  over  fifteen  hours,  an  amount  which  under  or- 
dinary conditions  should  have  resulted  in  improvement. 

(c)  Every  teacher  in  the  high  school  should  familiarize  himself 
with  such  scales  as  exist  for  measuring  achievement  in  the  subject 
which  he  teaches  and  should  use  these  scales;  when  no  such  scales 
have  been  devised,  the  t  acher  should  attempt  to  set  up  measures  of 
his  own  that  are  as  objective  as  possible. — Scales  for  the  measure- 
ment of  achievement  in  high  school  subjects,  even  if  inadequate, 
are  better  than  no  objective  measures  at  all.  The  teacher  should 
familiarize  himself  with  and  use  such  measures  of  attainment  in 
English  composition,  as  the  Hillegas  scale,  or  the  Harvard- 
Newton  scale.1  When  no  objective  measure  has  been  devised, 
or  when  those  which  have  been  perfected  are  obviously  in- 
adequate for  the  purpose  at  hand,  then  the  teacher  should  at- 
tempt to  form  some  measure  of  his  own  that  is  more  than  his 
individual  judgment.  He  could  at  least  keep  on  file  composi- 
tions that  are  representative  of  the  work  of  his  pupils,  ranging 
from  barely  passing,  poor,  through  medium,  and  good,  to  ex- 
cellent and  superior;  and  compare  the  written  work  of  subse- 

1  This  latter  scale  is  devised  to  measure  the  attainment  of  pupils  in  the 
eighth  grade  of  the  elementary  school,  but  may  be  used  with  first  year  high 
school  pupils. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       l6l 

quent  pupils  with  these.  He  could  use  a  similar  scheme  for 
written  work  in  mathematics,  language,  stenography,  and  the 
like.  In  the  manual  arts,  he  could  have  standard  models  for 
various  types  of  achievement  and  so  on.  Never  mind  how  im- 
perfect such  scales  are,  they  are  more  likely  to  serve  as  a  basis 
for  a  valid  estimate  of  the  pupils'  work  than  are  judgments 
based  on  passing  impressions. 

Teachers  are  aided  in  making  their  marking  definite  and  objective 
by  analyzing  as  far  as  possible  the  elements  that  enter  into  any 
complex  achievement  and  assigning  definite  values  to  such  elements. 
For  example,  in  judging  the  merit  of  a  theme  in  English  it  is  not  suf- 
ficient to  mark  it  on  the  basis  of  general  impressions,  but  on  certain 
points,  such  as  spelling,  punctuation,  grammatical  correctness,  sen- 
tence and  paragraph  structure,  clearness  of  arrangement,  and  inven- 
tive ability.  Further,  the  pupils  should  be  acquainted  with  the 
method  of  marking,  and  from  time  to  time  different  weight  may  be 
given  to  these  various  elements,  as  the  teacher  emphasizes  now  one 
aspect  of  the  work  and  now  another.  Teachers,  also,  should  have 
different  standards  of  attainment  for  different  grades  and  classes, 
not  expecting  the  same  performance  from  a  pupil  in  the  seventh, 
eighth,  or  ninth  grades  as  in  the  higher  grades  of  the  secondary  school. 
In  this  way,  one  of  the  chief  deficiencies  of  many  of  the  scales  that 
have  been  devised  for  testing  the  ability  of  pupils  will  be  done  away 
with.  Such  tests  as  the  Hillegas  scale  in  English  composition,  for 
example,  are  based  on  general  estimates  of  merit.  This  gives  no 
indication  in  regard  to  particular  merits  or  defects,  and  it  is  not  de- 
vised to  measure  ability  at  any  particular  stage  of  advancement,  but 
rather  excellence  in  English  composition  in  general.  A  point  scale, 
that  assigns  definite  values  to  different  elements,  and  takes  into  con- 
sideration the  age  and  grade  of  the  pupil  can  be  more  definitely  ap- 
plied and  used  specifically  to  improve  the  work  of  the  pupil  just 
where  improvement  is  most  needed.  In  this  respect  the  Harvard- 
Newton  scale  is  superior  to  the  Hillegas  scale. 

The  Outcomes  of  Standardized  Marking  have  great 
Educational  Value. — When  we  have  valid  scales  for  marking 


l62  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

various  high  school  subjects,  and  when  teachers  are  as  interested 
in  properly  grading  each  pupil  as  in  imparting  facts  or  stimulat- 
ing enthusiasm,  results  of  no  small  value  to  the  pupil  will  be 
achieved,  and  marks  will  be  valued  more,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  they  will  mean  more  to  both  pupil  and  teacher.  Under 
such  a  system  the  pupil  will  have  an  incentive  for  beating  his 
own  record,  because  he  can  understand  definitely  just  what 
progress  he  is  making  according  to  concrete  and  carefully  graded 
standards.  He  can  also  be  assured  that  if  he  does  reasonably 
good  work,  as  good  as  pupils  in  previous  years  have  done  or  are 
doing  in  other  classes,  he  will  pass  the  course.  A  relative  mark- 
ing system  does  not  insure  this.  Some  instructors  consider  it 
their  duty  to  fail  a  certain  proportion  of  their  class.  They  think 
that  they  are  lax  if  too  large  a  proportion  of  their  pupils  receive  a 
passing  grade.  Pupils  should  not  be  graded  in  this  comparative 
way.  It  would  be  impossible  to  do  so  if  we  had  an  absolute  scale 
of  measurements. 

When  an  objective  scheme  of  marking  has  been  finally 
achieved,  unfairness,  or  the  suspicion  of  unfairness  in  the  mark- 
ing of  a  pupil,  will  be  a  thing  of  the  past.  What  is  more,  the 
well-intentioned  teacher,  and  practically  all  teachers  have  good 
intentions  in  marking,  will  know  whether  he  has  marked  accu- 
rately or  not;  still  better  he  will  be  able  to  show  the  pupil  why  a 
mark  that  has  been  given  is  justified.  One  of  the  most  unpleas- 
ant features  of  the  present  inexact  scheme  of  marking  arises 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  point  out  to  the  pupil  just 
why  a  certain  grade  has  been  assigned  to  him  rather  than  another. 

If  the  pupils  of  a  class  were  told  to  draw  from  memory  a  line 
three  inches  long,  and  were  further  informed  that  a  line  of  less  than 
two  inches  or  more  than  four  was  to  be  considered  of  zero  merit,  and 
that  a  line  of  exactly  three  inches  was  to  be  marked  as  perfect,  or 
one  hundred  per  cent,  correct;  while  lines  between  were  to  be 
graded  up  to  a  hundred,  each  hundredth  of  an  inch  from  two  inches 
up  to  three  and  from  four  inches  down  to  three  counting  as  one  point 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 63 

on  the  scale,  each  pupil  could  be  graded  in  absolute  accuracy  in 
terms  of  his  performance.  There  would  then  be  no  question  as  to 
where  any  pupil  belonged  on  the  scale,  and  he  could  be  shown  at  once 
that  he  had  been  assigned  the  correct  position.  Further  than  this 
the  teacher's  personal  equation  would  be  entirely  eliminated. 

Such  a  condition  of  affairs  would  react  greatly  to  the  advan- 
tage of  the  pupil.  He  would  be  stimulated  to  do  better  work, 
when  he  knew  that  his  poor  work  had  been  really  measured  and 
determined.  Misunderstandings  between  pupils  and  teachers 
would  to  a  great  extent  be  eliminated.  "Easy  teachers"  and 
"snap  courses"  would  be  largely  a  tjiing  of  the  past.  In  this 
way  the  entire  esprit  de  corps  of  the  school  would  be  raised  and 
studying  for  marks  would  be  the  perfectly  natural  and  justifiable 
thing  to  do. 

Standards  of  Marking  Cannot  all  be  Framed  with  Equal 
Exactness  and  Objectivity. — In  our  previous  discussion  of  the 
desirability  of  securing  objective  measures  for  school  achieve- 
ments, we  have  emphasized  the  importance  of  devising  scales 
that  are  as  exact  and  minute  as  possible,  in  order  that  every 
kind  and  degree  of  achievement  may  be  definitely  measured  and 
determined.  Although  this  is  true  of  all  school  subjects,  and 
of  all  varieties  of  accomplishment,  still  the  fact  should  be  kept 
in  mind  that  there  are  certain  very  desirable  results  that  cannot 
be  measured  in  more  than  a  very  rough  way,  and  that  further 
there  are  varying  kinds  of  attainment  that  must  be  measured 
from  varying  standpoints.  Obviously  it  is  easier  to  form  a  scale 
for  determining  ability  in  algebra  than  in  history;  a  more  simple 
matter  to  measure  excellence  in  English  composition  than  in 
literary  interpretation.  Likewise  we  do  not  wish  to  measure 
merely  the  amount  and  quality  of  work  done;  at  times  it  is 
equally  desirable  to  measure  the  progress  made,  or  the  interest 
shown.  Progress  made  is  often  a  better  criterion  of  excellence 
than  the  correctness  of  the  result,  in  and  of  itself  considered. 
There  should  be  a  place  in  our  marking  system  to  record  this 


164  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

important  fact.  If  we  have  well-devised  scales,  it  is  a  simple 
matter  to  measure  and  record  improvement  in  school  work. 
It  is  a  much  more  difficult  matter  to  measure  interest,  and  it  will 
doubtless  be  a  long  time  before  we  have  more  than  the  roughest 
scales  for  such  a  determination.  Interest,  however,  can  be 
determined  indirectly  by  the  amount  attempted,  and  the  re- 
sult obtained. 

The  teacher  should  not  fall  into  the  error  of  doing  away  with 
all  attempts  at  objective  standards  because  in  some  instances 
they  are  crude  and  difficult  to  secure.  He  should  not  consider  it  a 
merit,  as  he  sometimes  does,  that  he  has  no  rule  by  which  to 
measure  results;  he  should  not  pose  as  the  inspired  one,  the  true 
bearer  of  the  torch  of  learning,  the  leader  and  prophet  to  whom 
it  is  given  to  see  the  promised  land  from  the  mountain  tops,  the 
exponent  of  the  spirit  that  cannot  be  reduced  to  definite  form, 
although  it  can  be  felt  and  in  a  sense  comprehended.  It  is  easy 
to  appeal  to  the  spirit,  to  declare  that  insight  and  inspiration  are 
the  great  things  and  to  denounce  all  that  partakes  of  exactness 
and  rigor.  It  should  be  remembered  always  that  the  real  leader 
must  know  where  he  is  leading  others,  that  enthusiasm  and 
inspiration  are  worth  nothing  unless  they  are  directed  toward 
things  worth  while.  The  teacher  above  all  persons  must  know 
the  way  along  which  he  seeks  to  direct  others.  This  means  he 
must  have  objectives,  ends  as  definite  and  as  clear  as  they  can 
possibly  be  made. 

The  question  of  the  desirability  of  definite  measures  of  achievement 
is  most  clearly  emphasized  when  we  consider  the  teaching  of  the 
so-called  appreciative  subjects,  such  as  art,  literature,  and  certain 
aspects  of  history,  science,  and  the  manual  arts.  The  appreciative 
subjects  are  carefully  distinguished  by  some  from  those  subjects 
that  are  primarily  of  the  knowledge-acquiring  and  habit-forming  type. 
Snedden  *  has  expressed  the  distinction  that  he  would  make  between 

1  David  Snedden,  An  address  delivered  before  the  Department  of  Superin- 
tendents of  the  National  Educational  Association,  Detroit,  Feb.  23,  1916. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 65 

these  two  types  of  studies  as  follows:  "In  teaching  spelling,  the  out- 
come expected  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  is  a  certain  quite  definite  and 
easily  recognized  ability  to  do,  to  execute,  to  express  in  action.  On 
the  other  hand  the  learning  achieved  in  hearing  a  recital  or  witness- 
ing a  dramatic  performance  can  be  subjected  to  no  profitable  test 
of  expression,  of  doing.  We  expect  absorption,  assimilation,  growth, 
as  results,  but  the  final  outcome  is  so  remote  from  the  original  stimulus 
that  we  do  not,  ordinarily,  seek  to  trace  connections."  It  is  not 
denied  that  studies  of  the  appreciative  type  have  results;  we  simply 
do  not  know  what  the  results  are,  and  consequently  we  must  trust  to 
chance  as  to  what  is  likely  to  happen.  We  must  "expose  the  pupil  to 
the  influences  of  such  studies,"  trusting  that  the  exposure  will  "take," 
and  that  the  results  will  be  beneficial  to  the  learner.  It  is  easy  to 
measure  progress  in  algebra,  or  Latin.  On  the  other  hand,  who  shall 
evaluate  the  results  that  come  to  the  pupil  in  his  reading  of  the  An- 
cient Mariner  or  of  Treasure  Island?  Here  the  learner  must  go 
his  own  way  without  let  or  hindrance.  To  hedge  appreciation  about 
by  rules,  to  measure  it  or  to  direct  it,  is  to  kill  it.  It  flourishes  only 
in  the  spirit  of  pure  play. 

Such  is  Snedden's  contention  in  the  main.  It  is  not  difficult 
to  sympathize  with  this  point  of  view;  yet  we  must  remember 
the  important  fact  that  undirected  and  undetermined  interest 
never  gets  us  anywhere.  Enthusiasms  that  have  no  goal,  spon- 
taneity that  is  uncontrolled,  are  as  likely  to  go  wrong  as  right. ' 
Appreciation  is  not  a  matter  of  personal  whim;  it  cannot  be  left  en- 
tirely to  chance  and  individual  preference.  If  our  teaching  is  to  have 
any  definiteness  and  point,  the  outcomes  of  those  studies  that  em- 
phasize the  appreciative  functions  must  be  measured  and  their  main 
aims  determined.  If  they  are  left  entirely  to  chance,  they  cannot  be 
taught  and  are  no  concern  of  the  school  in  any  grade  of  instruction. 

Important  Considerations  in  Regard  to  the  Test  for 
Knowledge. — Tests  for  knowledge  may  take  various  forms  ac- 
cording to  the  purpose  for  which  they  are  employed.  Under 
this  head  the  most  important  considerations  are  the  following: — 

(a)  The  test  for  knowledge  as  a  ride  should  be  given  as  a  class 
exercise. — It  would  be  an  obvious  saving  of  time  for  instruction 


1 66  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

if  tests  for  knowledge  could  be  given  chiefly  outside  of  the 
recitation  period.  This,  however,  is  impracticable  because  of  the 
fact  that  little  value  can  be  attached  to  the  written  work  pre- 
pared outside  of  the  class.1  Some  teachers  regard  exercises  in 
the  various  high  school  subjects  that  are  done  at  home  and 
handed  in  as  practically  worthless,  as  far  as  they  indicate  any 
real  knowledge  or  ability  on  the  part  of  those  who  submit  them. 
In  many  instances  these  exercises  are  not  the  work  of  those  whose 
names  they  bear.  Often  unwise  parents  do  most  of  the  work  for 
their  children,  quite  generally  the  less  industrious  and  capable 
pupils  receive  assistance  from  the  few  who  are  willing  to  work 
and  who  have  the  ability  to  do  accurate  work.  For  these  reasons 
it  is  a  common  practice  for  teachers  merely  to  record  the  fact 
that  the  pupils  have  handed  in  the  required  work  or  not,  but  to 
give  no  further  credit  for  school  exercises  of  this  character.2 

The  writer  recently  visited  a  class  in  physics  in  which  all  of  the 
pupils  handed  in  all  of  the  problems  of  the  day's  lesson  correctly 
done.  The  teacher  sent  a  number  of  the  class  to  the  board  to  do  these 
problems  without  the  assistance  of  their  papers.  There  were  several 
of  these  problems  that  not  a  single  member  of  the  class  could  do  cor- 
rectly when  they  were  tested  under  the  eye  of  the  teacher.  In  a  second 
class,  in  French,  many  of  the  pupils  handed  in  composition  work 
correctly  done,  but  were  unable  to  explain  the  grammatical  principles 
involved  in  their  writing.  These  two  examples  are  instances  taken  at 
random  from  hundreds  that  might  be  cited  to  show  how  futile  is 
much  of  the  written  work  done  outside  of  the  classroom. 

(b)  The  written  test  is  generally  more  economical  than  the  oral 
test. — As  far  as  practical,  tests  for  knowledge  should  be  written 
rather  than  oral.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  in  the  written  test 
all  of  the  pupils  are  mentally  active  during  the  entire  period  of 

1  As  will  be  pointed  out  in  Chapter  XVII.,  the  supervised  study  period  will 
partly  solve  this  difficulty. 

2  See  also  in  this  connection  Chapter  V.,  p.  ioo  and  Chapter  XVII.,  p.  363. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 67 

the  test,  while  in  the  oral  test  only  one  pupil  is  necessarily  en- 
gaged at  a  given  time.  Further  than  this,  by  use  of  the  written 
quiz  the  teacher  can  test  the  knowledge  and  the  skill  of  all  of  the 
members  of  his  class  much  more  extensively  than  he  can  by  the 
oral  test.  There  are  various  reasons  why  the  oral  test  is  used 
more  frequently  than  the  written  test  in  class  work.  One  rea- 
son is  that  in  the  oral  test  the  teacher  can  check  up  the 
errors  of  individuals  on  the  spot,  while  in  the  written  test 
correcting  of  papers  outside  of  the  class  period  is  involved. 
Again  in  the  oral  test  the  whole  assignment  can  be  covered, 
while  in  the  written  test  this  is  difficult,  and  teachers  feel  that 
they  must  go  over  the  entire  lesson  in  the  class  period. 

However,  the  written  test  can  be  used  in  many  ways  with  a 
great  saving.  Compare  the  value  of  sending  individual  pupils  to 
the  board  to  write  out  and  demonstrate  orally  proofs  in  geometry 
with  that  of  having  all  of  the  class  write  out  at  their  seats  all  of 
the  advanced  propositions.  In  the  former  case,  as  a  rule,  but 
one  pupil  is  giving  concentrated  attention  to  the  proposition 
that  is  being  worked  out  at  the  board;  in  the  latter  instance,  all 
of  the  members  of  the  class  are  mentally  active  on  all  of  the 
work  done.  If  too  much  time  is  taken  from  other  phases  of  the 
class  work  by  the  written  exercises  done  by  the  pupils  at  their 
seats,  then  only  a  part  of  the  advanced  lesson  may  be  thus 
treated.  Clearly  it  is  more  desirable  for  all  of  the  pupils  to  give 
their  entire  attention  to  half  of  the  work,  than  for  all  of  the  class 
to  give  sporadic  attention  to  all  of  the  work,  which  usually  is  the 
case  when  work  on  the  board  is  presented  by  individual  pupils,  or 
when  the  pupil  recites  from  his  seat.1 

What  is  true  of  the  work  in  geometry  is  equally  true  of  the 
work  in  other  high  school  subjects  in  which  the  test  for  knowl- 
edge is  either  oral  work  of  the  individual  pupils  at  their  seats  or 
written  work  at  the  board.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  the 
written  test  should  not  be  used  in  translating  foreign  languages, 
1  See  Chapter  VII.,  p.  136. 


1 68  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

in  summarizing  important  facts  in  history,  in  explaining  prin- 
ciples in  science,  and  indeed  in  setting  forth  facts  in  any  subject 
in  which  the  ordinary  recitation  method  is  now  used.  The 
recitation  method  as  it  is  commonly  employed  is  largely  a  failure 
when  it  is  directed  toward  testing  the  pupil's  knowledge.  In  the 
high  school  it  has  become  largely  "lesson-hearing,"  the  lowest 
and  most  inefficient  aspect  of  teaching.  How  profitless  this 
method  of  conducting  class  exercises  often  is,  the  following 
examples,  quoted  in  the  words  of  the  observers,  will  serve  to 
illustrate.1 

"As  soon  as  the  pupils  were  seated,  the  teacher  sent  five  members 
of  the  class  to  the  blackboard  to  write  out  synopses  of  verbs  which 
had  been  assigned  the  previous  day.  While  the  writing  on  the  black- 
board was  in  progress,  the  remaining  pupils  recited  the  assigned  lesson 
from  an  elementary  Latin  book.  As  the  teacher  called  a  name,  a 
pupil  rose  from  his  seat,  translated  a  Latin  sentence  into  English, 
and  received  a  mark  for  his  recitation.  Then  another  pupil  was  called 
and  the  process  repeated.  Many  of  the  pupils,  particularly  the 
brighter  ones,  translated  with  great  rapidity,  and  sometimes  almost 
inaudibly,  while  the  poorer  pupils  stumbled  over  their  work  and 
left  a  most  confused  impression.  The  pupils  were  manifestly  reciting 
to  the  desk,  and  for  the  sole  benefit  of  the  teacher.  When  the  transla- 
tion was  ended,  then  the  work  on  the  board  was  taken  up  and  cor- 
rected. In  this  part  of  the  recitation,  too,  the  teacher  seemed  satisfied 
when  she  had  received  the  right  form  from  the  pupil  who  was  pre- 
senting the  work,  and  took  no  pains  to  emphasize  the  work  for  the 
benefit  of  the  class  as  a  whole.  The  only  general  comment  on  this 
phase  of  the  recitation  was  a  concluding  remark  from  the  teacher, — 
1  This  work  shows  that  the  verbs  need  studying  up/  The  pupils 
looked  as  if  they  had  heard  this  observation  before. 

"  After  the  board  work  the  class  began  with  Gallia  est  omnis  divisa, 
etc.,  pursuing  the  conventional  routine  of  rising,  reciting, sitting  down, 
and  receiving  a  mark,  which  procedure  might  have  been  justified  as  a 
purely  review  exercise,  but  was  entirely  out  of  place  in  an  advanced 

1  See  also  Chapter  VIL,  p.  136. 


THE  METHODS   OF  THE   CLASS  PERIOD  169 

lesson  where  the  difficulties  of  the  class  needed  to  be  searched  out 
and  definitely  cleared  up.  So  the  hour  dragged  along,  and  at  length 
the  bell  rang,  whereupon  the  teacher  announced  in  a  hurried  manner 
that  the  lesson  for  tomorrow  would  go  to  line  — .  On  the  board 
had  been  written  a  synopsis  of  the  verbs  to  be  studied  for  the  next 
day,  and  as  the  class  was  passing  out  the  teacher  called  attention  to 
them.  And  so  the  lesson  ended,  as  doubtless  many  previous  lessons 
had  ended,  and  many  subsequent  lessons  would  end.  The  result 
attained  was  the  realization  of  the  aim, — to  get  through  the  lesson." 

"The  class  in  English  history  numbered  twenty-eight  pupils,  six- 
teen girls  and  twelve  boys.  After  the  calling  of  the  roll,  the  teacher 
took  out  of  his  desk  a  pack  of  cards  on  which  the  names  of  the  in- 
dividual members  of  the  class  were  written,  and  shuffled  them,  prob- 
ably to  show  that  he  had  no  particular  designs  in  calling  upon  any 
individual  to  recite,  and  that  the  whole  procedure  was  to  be  impartial 
and  quite  mechanical.  The  pupil  whose  name  came  up  was  designated 
as  the  victim.  He  had  to  show  what  he  knew  about  the  particular 
topic,  and  when  the  teacher  had  sufficiently  quizzed  him,  he  again 
resorted  to  the  divination  of  the  cards  to  discover  who  should  be 
next.  This  routine  was  repeated  throughout  forty  minutes  of  the 
hour.  The  last  five  minutes  were  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  the 
work  for  the  next  day,  and  this  was  the  only  part  of  the  recitation 
in  which  the  teacher  seemed  to  be  aware  that  he  had  pupils  before 
him  that  were  to  be  taught.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  treated  his  pupils 
merely  as  an  aggregate  of  individuals  from  whom  he  was  to  get  cer- 
tain information  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  how  much  of  the  as- 
signed lesson  each  knew,  in  order  that  he  might  give  to  each  and 
every  one  his  just  mark.  He  did  not  impress  me  as  a  teacher,  but  as 
a  foreman  or  boss  whose  duty  it  was  to  inspect  the  work  of  those 
under  him  to  see  that  it  came  up  to  the  standard.  I  did  not  find  the 
methods  of  this  teacher  strikingly  peculiar.  In  all  of  the  classes  that 
I  visited  in  this  school,  I  did  not  find  a  third  that  were  conducted  on 
an  essentially  different  principle.  For  the  most  part  it  was  dreary 
lesson-hearing  and  marking.  It  ought  to  be  said  in  this  connection, 
too,  that  the  teachers  were  not  beginners.  Most  of  them  were  sea- 
soned instructors  with  years  of  successful  (?)  experience  to  their 
credit." 


170  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

"To  what  an  extent  this  teacher  had  carried  the  method  of  lesson- 
hearing,  and  how  definitely  she  had  impressed  upon  her  pupils  the 
idea  that  the  chief  function  of  the  class  exercises  was  to  recite  to  her, 
is  shown  by  the  following  incident.  The  class  was  reading  Whittier's 
Snow-Bound.  Individual  members  were  called  upon  to  rise  in  their 
seats  and  read  a  few  verses  of  the  selection,  after  which  the  teacher 
questioned  the  pupil  on  some  of  the  details  of  what  he  had  read.  No 
pupil  seemed  to  be  reading  for  the  benefit  of  the  class;  the  teacher 
was  the  only  one  considered.  At  length  a  girl  who  had  been  given  a 
seat  in  front  of  the  very  front  row  was  called  upon.  It  was  a  single 
seat  at  one  side  of  the  room.  The  teacher  was  standing  at  this  side 
of  the  room  near  the  wall,  and  the  girl  turned  and  faced  the  teacher, 
with  her  back  to  all  of  the  class,  and  read  just  loud  enough  for  the 
teacher  to  hear  and  make  the  necessary  comments  and  corrections. 
For  three  minutes  pupil  and  teacher  carried  on  their  individual 
colloquy.  It  seemed  never  to  have  occurred  to  either  pupil  or  teacher 
that  the  pupil  should  face  the  class  and  read  for  its  benefit,  and  as 
far  as  I  could  judge,  there  was  not  a  pupil  in  the  room  who  saw  any- 
thing peculiar  or  out  of  the  ordinary  in  the  manner  in  which  the 
recitation  was  being  conducted." 

That  by  no  means  all  and  probably  not  the  majority  of  high 
school  recitations  are  characterized  by  the  deadening  procedure 
described  above,  the  following  typical  reports  of  observers  indi- 
cate:— 

"Today  I  listened  to  a  lesson  in  English  in  which  not  a  pupil  rose 
to  recite  and  not  a  question  was  asked,  yet  it  seemed  to  me  a  very 
successful  lesson,  and  one  in  which  the  class  learned  much.  It  is 
true  the  pupils  did  not  take  away  any  added  store  of  new  facts,  but 
if  I  could  judge  from  their  attentive  attitude  and  the  appreciation 
and  interest  revealed  by  the  expression  on  their  faces,  most  of  them 
obtained  a  new  insight  into  the  nature  of  genuine  fun,  and  an  in- 
creased love  for  real  humor.  During  the  entire  hour  the  teacher 
read  to  the  class  parts  of  HowehV  Albany  Depot.  She  was  an  excellent 
reader,  with  a  gift  for  facial  expression,  and  effective  gesture.  Her 
occasional  comments  were  also  suggestive.  If  the  class  enjoyed  the 
hour  as  much  as  I  did,  they  surely  spent  it  profitably." 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       171 

"In  the  lesson  in  geometry  that  I  observed  on  Thursday  the  teacher 
seemed  more  interested  in  making  the  pupils  think  than  in  finding 
out  how  well  they  had  learned  the  theorems  in  the  book.  She  spent 
fifteen  minutes  in  testing  their  knowledge  through  a  written  exercise, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  period  in  developing  through  question  and 
answer  a  statement  of  the  advanced  theorems  and  outlining  in  a 
general  way  the  proof.  She  told  little  outright.  She  showed  great 
skill  in  so  directing  her  questions  as  to  make  the  pupils  see  what  the 
facts  and  principles  were.  It  was  an  interesting  lesson,  and  the 
class  responded  well." 

"The  teacher  (of  history)  possessed  the  art  of  making  the  past 
living  and  present.  He  emphasized  facts  when  they  were  important, 
and  he  demanded  accuracy,  but  he  always  took  pains  to  show  that 
the  facts  had  some  bearing  on  other  facts  or  on  general  principles 
which  they  illustrated.  He  tried  to  make  the  pupils  feel  that  some- 
how the  Romans  were  men  such  as  we  are  today,  and  that  the  causes 
for  their  actions  were  not  different  from  the  causes  of  our  actions 
at  present.  I  have  heard  such  teaching  criticized  as  ' distorting' 
history,  but  it  seemed  to  me  that  far  from  distorting  facts  it  gave 
them  their  true  meaning.  I  should  have  found  more  of  my  history 
in  high  school  and  college  interesting,  if  it  had  been  l distorted'  in 
this  fashion." 

"This  teacher  did  not  tell  his  pupils  the  facts  about  magnetism; 
better  still  he  did  not  require  them  to  recite  about  these  facts.  He 
showed  the  facts  by  a  series  of  careful  demonstrations,  and  obtained 
from  his  pupils  a  statement  of  the  facts  in  their  own  words.  I  am 
sure  they  will  remember  the  essential  points  in  this  lesson  when  much 
that  they  have  learned  from  the  text-book  will  have  past  into  forget- 
fulness." 

"Until  I  witnessed  this  lesson,  I  had  supposed  that  beginning 
Latin  was  a  subject  to  be  learned  almost  exclusively  from  a  book,  and 
that  the  sole  business  of  a  Latin  teacher  was  to  listen  to  his  pupils 
recite,  and  to  correct  their  mistakes.  I  evidently  was  in  error,  if  the 
lesson  that  I  observed  is  at  all  typical.  The  teacher  spent  but  a  small 
portion  of  the  hour  in  listening  to  pupils  recite  paradigms,  and  give 
rules.  Most  of  the  period  was  devoted  to  showing  the  class  the  best 
method  of  translating  their  exercises  from  Latin  into  English,  and 


172  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

working  out  with  them  the  technique  of  the  procedure.  After  the 
class  the  teacher  told  me  that  as  a  rule  the  pupils  did  more  reciting 
than  on  the  day  of  my  observation,  but  she  also  said  that  she  spent 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  class  period  in  developing  the  work 
with  her  pupils,  and  in  showing  them  how  to  study.  She  was  sure 
that  it  brought  results  in  the  end,  and  was  well  worth  while." 

(c)  Tests  should  be  made  as  brief  as  possible  in  order  that  the 
major  part  of  the  recitation  period  may  be  given  over  to  the  more 
important  work  of  drill  and  instruction. — The  fact  cannot  be  too 
often  emphasized  that  the  test  for  knowledge  is  never  an  end  in 
itself,  but  only  a  means  to  an  end.  The  real  function  of  the 
recitation  is  to  drill  and  instruct  the  pupil.  The  test  for  knowl- 
edge cannot  be  made  a  substitute  for  the  more  important  phases 
of  teaching.  In  some  classes  it  must  necessarily  occupy  a  larger 
place  than  in  others,  but  as  a  rule  should  not  consume  more 
than  a  third  of  the  total  recitation  period.  In  many  classes  a 
five-minute  test  at  the  beginning  of  the  period  will  be  sufficient. 
Such  a  test  must  of  course  be  written  and  be  so  devised,  that  the 
pupils  can  answer  the  questions  in  a  few  direct  words. 

The  five-minute  test  at  the  beginning  of  the  hour  can  be  used  to 
advantage  in  such  a  subject  as  history.  In  this  written  quiz  the  at- 
tempt is  made  to  hold  the  class  responsible  for  the  more  important 
facts  brought  out  in  the  lesson  of  the  preceding  day.  Such  tests  are 
of  course  too  brief  for  more  formal  examinations  which  are  to  cover 
the  work  of  many  lessons.  Some  teachers  have  found  it  advantageous 
to  give  a  five-minute  test  both  at  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  the 
recitation  period.1  The  test  at  the  end  of  the  recitation  serves  a 
double  function.  In  the  first  place,  as  we  said  in  Chapter  IV.,  it  acts 
as  an  incentive  to  the  pupils  to  give  their  attention  to  the  main  points 
brought  out  during  the  recitation  period,  since  they  know  that  they 
are  to  be  held  responsible  for  them  in  the  quiz  that  is  to  follow.  In 
the  second  place,  this  test  serves  as  an  immediate  review  and  a  sum- 
mary of  what  has  preceded,  and  for  this  reason  is  an  important  factor 

1  See  Chapter  IV.,  p.  67. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 73 

in  the  comprehension  and  retention  of  the  main  facts  presented  during 
the  recitation. 


(d)  Tests  should  not  all  be  of  one  type. — Tests  to  determine 
knowledge  and  skill,  should  not  be  of  one  type  alone.  There  are 
various  forms  such  tests  may  take.  The  most  common  test 
employed  in  the  schools  is  that  of  ability  to  recall  the  parts  of 
what  has  previously  been  learned.  This  recall  may  be  a  ver- 
batim restatement,  as  in  the  case  of  rote  memory,  or  it  may  be 
recall  in  the  terms  of  the  sense  or  meaning  of  what  has  been 
learned.  In  most  subjects  of  the  high  school  curriculum  mere 
verbatim  recall  has  but  a  minor  place.  Recall  of  ideas  is  the 
test  of  attainment  in  such  subjects  as  history,  science,  and  litera- 
ture. 

Another  valid  test  for  learning  is  to  determine  whether  the 
presentation  of  one  of  a  pair  of  associations  tends  to  call  up  the 
second  member  of  the  pair.  For  example,  a  pupil  is  learning  a 
German-English  vocabulary.  His  knowledge  may  be  tested  by 
asking  him  to  repeat  this  vocabulary  word  for  word,  or  by  finding 
out  how  rapidly  he  can  reply  with  the  English  word  when  the 
German  equivalent  is  given.  Clearly  this  second  method  of 
testing  knowledge  is  better  for  this  particular  kind  of  learning, 
than  is  the  first  method. 

Another  test  of  learning  is  the  ability  of  the  learner  to  recog- 
nize a  word,  an  object,  or  a  situation,  when  presented.  The  boy 
who  is  taking  a  course  in  the  manual  arts  knows  his  tools  when 
he  can  use  them;  a  girl  knows  her  lesson  in  French  if  she  recog- 
nizes the  meaning  of  the  words  when  she  meets  them  in  the  text. 
At  one  time  it  was  believed  that  a  pupil  had  mastered  his  text  in 
grammar  or  science  when  he  was  capable  of  giving  a  set  of  defini- 
tions or  rules.  The  real  test  is  not,  however,  that  he  remembers  a 
collection  of  words  and  their  sequence,  but  that  he  knows  how 
to  use  in  a  concrete  instance  the  principles  contained  in  these 
formal  statements. 


174  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

Closely  associated  with  recall  as  a  test  for  knowledge  is  re- 
construction. This  latter  test  consists  in  putting  into  its  proper 
order  materials  that  are  given  out  of  order.  The  memory  for  the 
order  and  arrangement  may  in  this  instance  be  more  important 
than  the  memory  for  the  details  that  are  to  be  arranged.  In 
history  it  is  not  only  necessary  to  know  the  names  of  the  kings 
of  England,  but  also  the  order  of  their  reigns;  it  is  perhaps  as 
important  to  know  the  order  of  the  admission  of  the  States  into 
the  Union  as  to  give  the  names  of  the  States  themselves.  In 
these  cases  the  sequence  of  arrangement  is  significant. 

Tests  for  knowledge  may  aim  to  determine  facility  in  either 
what  has  just  been  learned,  or  in  what  has  been  retained  for 
some  time.  Obviously  the  latter  test  is  the  more  important  as  a 
measure  for  real  knowledge.  A  large  part  of  what  is  barely 
learned  rapidly  fades  from  the  mind.  Within  a  few  hours  much 
has  disappeared.  For  this  reason  tests  that  require  the  reproduc- 
tion of  that  which  has  been  in  the  mind  for  some  time  are  de- 
sirable if  the  pupil's  real  ability  is  to  be  measured.  High  schools 
have  sometimes  made  a  mistake  in  abandoning  examinations  at 
the  end  of  courses  in  such  subjects  as  history,  where  that  which 
has  been  learned  in  the  early  part  of  the  course  may  be  quite 
forgotten  if  it  is  not  held  in  mind  by  the  pupil  for  the  purpose  of 
a  final  test  in  the  subject.  Examinations  are  a  distinct  incentive 
to  retention,  and  in  those  subjects  in  which  retention  is  desired 
they  should  not  be  abandoned. 

Obviously  there  are  certain  subjects  in  the  high  school  curriculum 
that  do  not  require  final  examinations  from  the  fact  that  in  these 
subjects  the  knowledge  and  skill  are  cumulative,  so  to  speak.  If  a 
pupil  at  the  end  of  the  year  can  translate  his  Latin  well,  it  shows 
that  he  has  mastered  what  has  gone  before;  if  the  learner  in  the  class 
in  stenography  can  take  the  dictation  of  the  teacher  with  requisite 
speed  and  accuracy,  this  is  a  test  that  involves  all  that  has  preceded. 
The  case  is  quite  different  in  a  text-book  course  in  physics,  for  ex- 
ample, where  the  learning  may  be  taken  up  section  by  section,  and 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 75 

each  part  left  without  definite  relation  to  the  rest.  Here  an  examina- 
tion requiring  a  knowledge  and  an  organization  of  the  entire  course 
is  most  desirable. 


As  a  rule  teachers  are  too  stereotyped  in  the  kind  of  examina- 
tions that  they  give.  These  tests  are  very  much  of  the  same 
pattern.  What  is  needed  is  a  variety  of  tests,  suited  to  the 
various  educational  results  that  we  strive  to  measure.  Giving 
the  proper  test  for  knowledge,  the  test  that  best  suits  the  par- 
ticular needs  of  the  subject  and  the  pupils  is  an  important  func- 
tion of  instruction,  since  it  serves  as  an  incentive  to,  and  a  device 
for  learning,  as  well  as  a  measure  of  achievement. 

Summary  of  the  Preceding  Discussion.— In  conclusion  we 
may  bring  together  the  most  important  facts  in  regard  to  the 
test  for  knowledge  as  an  aim  of  the  recitation.  The  high  school 
teacher  must  observe  the  following  cautions: — 

Do  not  make  the  entire  recitation  period  a  test  for  knowledge. 
A  reasonable  sampling  of  the  knowledge  and  skill  that  the  pupils 
have  acquired  is  sufficient.  Above  all,  do  not  turn  the  classroom 
exercises  into  mere  "  lesson-hearing. " 

Do  not  over-emphasize  tests  to  determine  rote  memory;  test 
for  ideas,  ability,  power  to  do. 

Vary  the  tests  to  suit  the  subject,  the  pupil,  and  the  aims  of 
instruction.  Ability  to  reproduce  what  has  already  been  learned 
is  not  the  only  valid  means  of  determining  what  has  been  ac- 
quired. 

Record  the  results  of  the  tests  so  that  they  will  be  significant; 
so  that  they  will  mean  something  to  both  pupil  and  teacher.  The 
records  must  not  only  show  failure  or  progress,  but  they  must 
indicate  just  where  failure  or  progress  lies. 

In  marking,  make  as  fine  gradations  as  practical.  It  is  not 
satisfactory  to  indicate  all  grades  of  excellence  by  two  or  three 
letters  of  the  alphabet.    At  least  six  grades  are  possible. 

Make  the  standards  of  marking  as  objective  as  possible. 


176  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

Where  definite  scales  of  measurement  xist,  use  them;  where  they 
do  not,  attempt  to  arrive  at  some  objective  measures  of  the 
pupil's  attainment.    Do  not  trust  to  mere  impression. 

Standards  to  measure  appreciation  cannot  be  exact  or  finely 
graded,  but  there  must  be  certain  objectives  before  the  teacher 
in  all  subjects,  and  phases  of  subjects  taught.  To  have  no  object 
is  to  travel  in  the  forest  without  path,  guide,  or  compass. 

In  order  to  hold  the  attention  of  the  pupil  and  to  economize 
the  time  of  the  recitation,  use  written  tests  whenever  possible  in 
preference  to  oral  tests.  In  this  respect  in  particular  the  entire 
procedure  in  the  classroom  needs  to  be  fundamentally  and 
radically  changed. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD. — THE  NATURE  AND  FUNC- 
TION OF  DRILL 

Conflicting  Opinions  in  Regard  to  the  Value  of  Drill. — 

Twenty  years  ago,  J.  M.  Rice  published  in  the  Forum,1  under  the 
title  of  "The  Futility  of  the  Spelling  Grind,"  the  results  of  a 
series  of  investigations  in  the  elementary  schools  of  the  United 
States.  One  of  his  principal  conclusions  was  that  practice  in 
spelling  of  over  fifteen  minutes  a  day  was  wasteful,  since  addi- 
tional study  seemed  to  accomplish  no  results.  Later  O.  P. 
Cornman  gave  spelling  tests  to  certain  schools  in  Philadelphia, 
the  results  of  which  he  published  in  a  monograph  entitled, 
"Spelling  in  the  Elementary  School."2  The  conclusions  of 
Cornman  were  in  many  respects  similar  to  those  of  Rice.  In 
more  recent  years  further  studies  by  Courtis  and  others  have 
made  it  clear  that  many  children  in  our  schools  fail  to  show 
improvement  through  practice. 

Such  results  have  been  taken  by  many  to  indicate  the  useless- 
ness  of  drill,  and  there  have  been  not  a  few  who  have  considered 
drill  as  a  method  of  the  dark  ages  in  education,  and  who  have 
decried  its  wastefulness,  its  drudgery,  and  its  deadening  effects. 
Some  who  have  emphasized  the  necessity  of  teaching  the  pupil  to 
observe,  to  think,  to  develop  tastes,  and  to  acquire  permanent 
interests  have  seen  in  drill  a  foe  to  school  progress.  At  times  it 
has  seemed  as  if  many  of  our  educational  leaders  desired  that  all 
drill  should  be  banished  from  the  schoolroom.  The  advocates  of 
such  a  radical  change  in  school  procedure  have  never  succeeded, 

1Vol.  XXIII.,  pp.  162-172;  407-419  (1897).  2i902. 

177 


178  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

of  course,  in  having  a  program  of  this  sort  put  into  actual  opera- 
tion, and  indeed  the  most  outspoken  opponents  of  drill  would 
themselves  not  attempt  to  eliminate  it  in  all  its  phases.  Drill, 
which  signifies  at  times  a  dull,  dreary,  fruitless  grind,  also  in- 
volves persistency  of  effort;  it  means  "keeping  everlastingly  at 
it."  At  the  present  time  there  is  a  decided  reaction  against  this 
extreme  position  in  regard  to  the  futility  of  drill.  Drill  is  coming 
back  to  its  proper  place  in  the  schoolroom,  though  it  will  never 
again  be  used  as  the  exclusive  method  of  teaching,  if  indeed  it 
has  ever  been  so  employed. 

Causes  for  a  Reaction  in  Favor  of  Drill.— There  are  various 
causes  why  there  is  a  reaction  today  in  favor  of  drill.  Some  of 
the  most  obvious  are: — 

(a)  A  better  understanding  of  the  doctrine  of  interest  in  its  rela- 
tion to  effort. — In  Chapter  IV.,  the  fact  was  emphasized  that 
interest  is  not  to  be  confused  with  mere  entertainment.  Interest 
is  not  engendered  by  "taking  things  easy."  Indeed,  it  often 
dies  out  when  such  an  attitude  is  present.  The  sanity  and 
clarity  of  the  writings  of  such  leaders  in  education  as  Bagley  in 
regard  to  the  value  of  effort  have  helped  to  do  away  with  the 
preachings  of  "soft  pedagogy,"  which  at  one  time  were  sure  of  a 
favorable  hearing  at  any  gathering  of  teachers. 

(b)  The  failure  of  instruction  without  drill. — Instruction  with- 
out drill  will  not  work.  Remove  every  vestige  of  drill  from  the 
schools  today,  and  all  learning  would  cease.  Drill,  in  the  form  of 
practice,  is  an  absolute  essential  of  every  stage  of  instruction 
from  the  kindergarten  through  the  university.  The  trained 
student  of  our  graduate  schools  is  the  drilled  student.  The 
good  teacher  will  soon  find  out  for  himself,  without  any  abstract 
knowledge  in  regard  to  educational  theories  and  practices,  that 
he  cannot  get  results  without  drill.  In  a  certain  very  real  sense 
drill  is  the  end  of  all  learning,  which  seeks  to  perfect  the  learner 
in  those  habits  of  knowledge,  of  skill,  of  methods  of  procedure, 
and  of  judgment  that  will  make  him  an  efficient  worker  in  the 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 79 

world  in  which  he  lives.  Even  reasoning  itself  is  perfected  only 
when  fundamentally  correct  habits  of  thought  have  been  estab- 
lished and  made  habitual.  You  cannot  teach  the  pupil  to  think 
without  training  him  to  think. 

(c)  The  results  of  experimental  education. — Recent  experiments 
in  the  psychology  of  learning  have  conclusively  shown  the  great 
importance  of  practice  in  improving  any  act  of  skill,  or  indeed 
any  mental  or  physical  function  whatsoever. 

These  investigations  have  been  varied  and  extensive.  They  began 
with  Bryan  and  Harter's  l  study  of  improvement  in  telegraphy,  pub- 
lished in  the  years  1897-99;  they  include  similar  studies  by  Book,2 
Swift,3  Rejall  and  Hill 4  on  improvement  in  learning  to  typewrite; 
studies  in  tossing  balls,  in  tossing  shots  into  a  bottle,  drawing  lines 
between  two  parallel  lines  of  a  maze,  tapping  of  a  telegraphic  key, 
observing  small  visual  details,  marking  out  a's  on  a  printed  page,  can- 
celling zeroes,  substituting  English  for  German  script,  substituting 
letters  for  others  according  to  a  key,  substituting  letters  for  numbers, 
improvement  in  adding,  improvement  in  memorizing,  improvement 
in  reading  Russian,  etc.  This  by  no  means  exhausts  the  list.  Those 
cited  show,  however,  something  of  the  nature  and  varied  character 
of  the  abilities  investigated.5  Besides  experiments  in  human  learn- 
ing, a  variety  of  studies  has  been  made  concerning  the  improvement 
in  animal  learning  by  such  men  as  Thorndike,  Watson,  and  Yerkes. 

1  Studies  in  the  Physiology  and  Psychology  of  the  Telegraphic  Language, 
Psy.  Review,  Vol.  IV.,  pp.  27-53;  Vol.  VI.,  pp.  345~375  (1897-99). 

2  University  of  Montana  Publications  in  Psychology;  Bulletin  No.  53  (1908). 

3  The  Acquisition  of  Skill  in  Typewriting,  Psychological  Bulletin,  Vol.  I., 

PP-  295-305  (1904)- 

4  Reported  by  Thorndike,  Educational  Psychology,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  102-115; 
140,  210  f.,  244  f.,  256,  289,  309,  312. 

6  The  literature  on  the  question  of  improvement  through  practice  is  con- 
veniently brought  together  and  admirably  digested  and  summarized  by 
Thorndike  in  the  second  volume  of  his  Educational  Psychology.  It  is  also 
found  in  a  more  compact  form  in  his  Educational  Psychology,  Briefer  Course, 
pages  125-282.  Much  of  the  work  here  cited  was  done  under  the  direction 
of  Thorndike,  who  is  the  leading  writer  and  investigator  in  this  field. 


l8o  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

All  of  these  studies  in  regard  to  learning  present  the  same 
picture,  namely, — practically  unvarying  improvement  in  skill 
through  practice.  The  results  of  these  various  investigations  are 
summarized  by  Thorndike  in  the  following  words: — 

"  So  far  as  I  am  aware  of  the  facts,  no  mental  function  has  ever 
been  deliberately  practiced  with  an  eye  to  improving  it,  and  with 
a  proper  opportunity  for  the  law  of  effect  to  operate  without 
some  improvement  as  a  result.  There  have  been  cases  where  one 
investigator  has  failed  to  find  improvement,  but  where  others 
have  found  it.  There  have  been  cases,  of  course,  where  certain 
individuals  failed  to  improve.  On  the  whole,  however,  it  seems 
fair  to  say  that  all  functions  that  anyone  is  likely  ever  to  take  any 
theoretical  or  practical  interest  in  are  improvable  unless  the  general 
practice  of  life  has  already  put  them  at  their  limit;  and  that  the 
latter  case  is  very  rare." 

Again  he  says: — "First,  hardly  any  functions  have  ever  been  prac- 
ticed in  the  course  of  the  scientific  study  of  mental  functions  which 
did  not  improve  and,  provided  they  were  of  fairly  narrow  scope  and 
with  success  and  failure  easily  distinguishable,  at  a  fairly  rapid  rate. 
Second,  there  are  striking  cases  of  individuals  who  have  had  enor- 
mously long  practice,  as  taken  in  the  course  of  schools  or  trades,  and 
who  have  kept  at  the  same  level  of  efficiency  for  a  long  time,  but  who, 
under  more  favorable  conditions  make  notable  advances.  Third,  a 
new  stimulus  to  interest  and  effort,  or  new  methods  of  training,  often 
produce  a  similar  advance  in  the  ordinary  work  of  the  world.  Fourth, 
all  that  we  know  of  the  neurones  as  modifiable  organs,  and  of  the 
physiology  of  learning,  seems  to  me  to  show  that  many  more  connec- 
tions can  be  formed  than  usually  are  formed,  and  that  any  given 
set  of  connections  can  be  brought  to  a  surety  and  fluency  of  action 
approximating  in  results  the  expertness  at  which  we  marvel,  if  con- 
ditions of  proper  stimulation  and  reward  by  satisfaction  are  pro- 
vided." 

It  may  seem  from  such  results  as  these  above  cited,  and  from 
the  opinion  of  such  a  competent  experimenter  and  authority  as 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       l8l 

Thorndike  that  there  is  no  merit  in  the  contention  of  those  who 
have  emphasized  the  lack  of  value  of  drill.  This,  however,  is 
hardly  a  legitimate  conclusion.  There  is  something  in  the  claim 
of  those  who  have  decried  drill  in  the  ordinarily  accepted  sense 
of  the  word.  Just  what  merit  there  is  in  this  contention  the 
following  pages  will  attempt  to  make  clear.  In  order  to  do  this, 
an  analysis  of  the  nature  and  conditions  of  effective  drill  will  be 
necessary. 

The  Laws  of  Habit-formation. — Drill  is  in  reality  another 
name  for  practice  or  habit-formation,  and,  consequently,  in  order 
to  understand  the  principles  underlying  it  and  the  methods  of  its 
successful  operation,  it  will  be  desirable  to  consider  in  some 
detail  its  essential  nature.  Habit-formation  may  be  thought  of 
as  the  ultimate  end  of  all  learning,  no  matter  what  its  nature 
may  be.  Habit  consists  in  the  establishment  of  connections 
between  various  situations  and  various  responses,  by  making 
these  connections  firm  and  the  paths  between  situation  and 
response  permeable. 

There  are  many  kinds  of  habits,  some  exceedingly  simple  and 
others  bewilderingly  complex;  some  are  habits  of  a  low  order  as 
measured  by  ultimate  facility,  as,  for  example,  the  single-letter 
habit  in  striking  the  keys  of  a  typewriter;  others  are  of  a  rela- 
tively high  order,  as  for  example,  the  word  habit  in  operating 
the  typewriter.  In  other  words,  there  exists  in  a  complex  act  of 
skill  a  "hierarchy  of  habits."  There  are  extremely  elementary 
habits  that,  so  to  speak,  are  swallowed  up  by  larger  habits,  and 
these  by  still  larger  ones,  until,  for  example,  the  typist  no  longer 
thinks  when  he  is  operating  his  machine  of  single  letter,  or  of 
words,  but  of  whole  phrases  and  sentences.  The  smaller  habits 
have  been  transofrmed  into  the  large  and  more  inclusive  ones. 

If  we  consider  more  specifically  the  school  situation  we  shall  see 
that  this  principle  of  the  diversity  and  complexity  of  habits  holds 
good  in  every  subject  of  the  curriculum,  and  in  every  circumstance 
of  school  life.     There  are,  for  example,  the  3x4  habit  (extremely 


1 82  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

simple  and  definite);  the  habit  of  carrying  in  addition  (somewhat 
more  complex  and  intricate  and  hence  less  easily  established);  the 
habit  of  clear  articulation  in  reading;  the  habit  of  studying  the  map 
in  getting  a  lesson  in  geography;  the  habit  of  looking  for  the  main 
topics  in  an  assignment  in  history;  the  habit  of  correct  punctuation 
in  English  composition;  the  habit  of  visualizing  concrete  situations 
in  reading  descriptive  prose  or  poetry;  the  habit  of  definitely  finding 
and  stating  a  proposition  in  geometry;  the  habit  of  observing  what 
occurs  in  the  course  of  an  experiment  in  chemistry;  the  habit  of  keep- 
ing a  note-book  in  a  neat  and  orderly  fashion;  the  habit  of  attention 
during  the  recitation;  the  habit  of  obedience  to  those  in  authority; 
the  habit  of  reading  stories  of  adventure,  and  so  on  through  a  list 
that  is  practically  endless.  Indeed,  the  law  of  all  school  activity  and 
of  life  itself  is  the  law  of  habit. 

Since  some  habits  are  much  more  intricate  and  complex  than 
others,  it  follows  in  the  nature  of  the  case  that  under  ordinary 
conditions  some  will  never  reach  the  degree  of  perfection  and 
automatic  precision  that  others  will  attain,  and  consequently, 
some  activities  will  be  so  imperfectly  set  up  that  the  habitual 
phase  of  their  manifestation  may  be  overlooked.  However,  there 
is  no  learning  in  the  entire  curriculum  that  does  not  in  some 
measure  aim  at  and  to  some  degree  attain  facility  and  precision. 
So  we  find  that  habit  is  all-pervasive  and  all-inclusive.  It  is  the 
very  essence  of  the  learning  process.  Habit-formation  conforms 
to  the  following  laws  in  all  acquisition  of  whatever  type: — 

(a)  Repetition  of  the  desired  function. — It  is  a  maxim  of  all 
learning  and  a  fact  of  daily  experience  that  "  Practice  makes 
perfect."  No  one  who  desires  to  perfect  his  knowledge,  or  skill, 
ever  attempts  to  do  so  without  repetition.  Iteration,  and  reitera- 
tion is  the  chief  method  of  the  schools,  and  has  been  since  time 
immemorial.  However,  as  we  have  seen,  it  does  not  always 
bring  results.  The  reasons  for  its  failure  are  important,  since 
they  throw  a  significant  light  on  the  psychology  of  learning  and 
on  the  validity  of  certain  school  methods.    In  a  word,  repetition 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 83 

is  often  inadequate  to  bring  results,  because  of  the  fact  that  it 
is  not  the  sole  condition  of  habit-formation.  There  are  other 
principles,  equally  important,  which  if  disregarded  may  bring 
to  naught  all  our  efforts  toward  progress. 

(b)  Pleasurable  consequences  in  the  learning. — If  we  desire  to 
establish  a  habit  in  an  animal  or  a  child,  or  if  we  wish  to  perfect 
one  in  ourselves,  we  shall  find  it  necessary  to  attach  to  the  be- 
havior that  we  wish  to  set  up  some  pleasurable  outcome,  or  if  it 
be  a  "negative  response"  (a  so-called  habit  of  avoidance),  an 
unpleasant  result.  This  is  a  fact  clearly  established  through 
common  observation  and  experience,  and  through  experimental 
inquiry.  The  function  of  reward  and  punishment  in  controlling 
behavior  is  too  well  known  to  need  extended  comment. 

The  reasons  for  the  operation  of  this  principle,  however,  are 
not  altogether  clear  though  the  fact  itself  cannot  be  denied.  One 
explanation  is  found  in  the  principle  of  "circular  activity," 
which  leads  the  individual  to  repeat  an  act  when  it  has  resulted 
satisfactorily.  The  satisfactory  consequence  is  supposed  to 
heighten  the  tone  of  the  organism  and  to  cause  the  same  act 
to  be  repeated  until  it  has  become  temporarily  wearisome 
through  excessive  exercise.  This  principle  is  illustrated  in  the 
child's  acquisition  of  spoken  language.  He  repeats  over  and 
over  again  some  sound  that  he  first  utters  quite  spontaneously. 
This  explains  the  seemingly  meaningless  ma-ma-mas,  pa-pa- 
pas, and  da-da-das,  and  similar  babblings  that  characterize  the 
rudimentary  beginnings  of  infant  speech.  Here  the  function  of 
satisfaction  is  to  lead  to  repetition,  and  consequently  through 
repetition  to  establish  connections  between  situation  and  re- 
sponse. 

Thorndike  has  given  an  additional  explanation  for  the  efficacy 
of  satisfaction  in  establishing  a  habit  in  what  he  terms  the  "Law 
of  Effect."  He  holds  that  a  pleasurable  state  of  affairs  in  and  of 
itself  tends  to  establish  more  firmly  a  habit  irrespective  of 
whether  added  repetitions  follow  or  not.    On  the  other  hand  an 


184  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

unpleasurable  state  of  affairs  tends  to  weaken  a  habit  although 
the  number  of  repetitions  are  not  diminished.  That  is,  if  a  child 
repeats  his  spelling  lesson  twenty  times  under  agreeable  condi- 
tions these  twenty  repetitions  are  more  effective  than  if  they 
were  made  under  conditions  of  indifference  or  with  actual  dis- 
taste.   He  says, — 

"To  the  situation,  'a  modifiable  connection  being  made  by 
him  between  an  S  (situation)  and  an  R  (response)  and  being 
accompanied  or  followed  by  a  satisfying  state  of  affairs/  man 
responds,  other  things  being  equal,  by  an  increase  in  the  strength 
of  this  connection.  To  a  connection  similar,  save  that  an  annoy- 
ing  state  of  affairs  goes  with  or  follows  it,  man  responds,  other 
things  being  equal,  by  a  decrease  in  the  strength  of  that  con- 
nection. " 

Again  he  writes, — "These  tendencies  for  connections  to  grow 
strong  by  exercise  (repetition)  and  satisfying  consequences  and 
to  grow  weak  by  disuse  and  annoying  consequences  should,  if 
importance  were  the  measure  of  the  space  to  be  allotted  to 
topics,  preempt  at  least  half  of  this  inventory. "  In  other  words, 
Thorndike  maintains  that  the  principle  of  repetition  on  the 
positive  side,  with  disuse  on  the  negative  side,  together  with 
that  of  satisfaction  on  the  positive  side  and  dissatisfaction  on 
the  negative  side  constitute  the  two  great  laws  of  learning,  habit, 
drill. 

Not  all  psychologists  agree  with  him  on  this  point.  Watson,1 
for  example,  insists  that  satisfaction  as  such  has  nothing  to  do 
with  habit-formation.  Given  a  certain  number  of  repetitions  it 
makes  no  difference  to  learning  whether  these  repetitions  have 
been  attended  by,  or  whether  they  result  in,  satisfaction  or  dis- 
satisfaction. Watson,  however,  would  not  deny  that  satisfaction 
tends  to  lead  to  repetition,  and  dissatisfaction  to  avoidance.  In 
the  absence  of  definite  experimental  evidence  on  this  point,  judg- 
ment must  be  reserved  as  to  the  facts  at  issue.    However,  there 

1  See  Behavior j  An  Introduction  to  Comparative  Psychology,  p.  257  (1914). 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       185 

can  be  no  doubt  that  pleasure  in  an  activity  tends  to  make  that 
activity  more  perfect,  either  because  it  leads  to  repetition  of  that 
activity,  or  because  in  addition  to  this  the  mere  pleasure  itself 
apart  from  repetition  is  a  means  of  establishing  a  habit.  Since 
this  is  so,  the  attitude  the  teacher  should  take  is  to  surround  all 
desirable  school  activities  with  pleasurable  accompaniments  and 
pleasurable  consequences,  and  all  undesirable  activities  with  un- 
pleasurable  circumstances  and  results. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  there  are  three  kinds  of  pleasurable 
outcomes  that  may  attach  themselves  to  an  activity.  The 
pleasure  may  be  inherent  in  the  exercise  of  the  act  itself,  and  of 
necessity  attend  its  expression;  it  may  flow  from  it  as  a  conse- 
quence of  the  act,  or  it  may  be  artificially  attached  to  the  act. 
For  example,  manual  work  in  the  shops  may  be  a  pleasure  to  the 
boy  from  the  fact  that  he  finds  it  inherently  agreeable  to  use  his 
hands  and  manipulate  tools;  or  again  he  may  enter  upon  it  with 
zest  because  he  believes  as  a  result  he  will  soon  be  able  to  go  out 
into  the  world  and  earn  an  independent  living;  or  finally  he 
may  take  pleasure  in  his  work  through  the  consequence  of  an 
artificially  attached  reward,  such  as  the  commendation  of  his 
teachers,  his  parents,  or  friends.  It  is  not  always  possible  to 
make  the  pupil  work  with  pleasure  merely  for  the  work's  sake;  it 
is  fortunately  possible  in  many  instances  to  make  the  school 
work  pleasurable  either  in  its  natural  or  artificial  consequences. 
Pleasure  of  some  sort  must  be  the  attendant  of  repetition,  and 
the  teacher  cannot  hope  to  get  substantial  results  from  drill 
that  is  accompanied  by  indifference  or  distaste. 

(c)  Attention  during  the  process  of  learning. — In  all  human 
learning  the  mental  attitude  is  an  extremely  important  factor. 
In  animal  learning  it  is  of  but  slight  significance,  because  of  the 
fact  that  the  attitude  of  animals  toward  a  task  that  they  are 
being  taught  to  perform  is  so  unstable  and  fluctuating  that 
attention  can  be  considered  of  but  slight  value  in  their  learning. 
With  human  beings,  however,  the  "set  of  the  mind"  is  a  deter- 


1 86  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

mining  element  in  the  learning  process,  and  changes  habit- 
formation  from  a  purely  objective  condition  to  one  that  is 
largely  directed  and  modified  by  subjective  controls.  The 
nature  and  direction  of  attention  become  one  of  the  most 
important  problems  in  human  acquisition,  and  the  value  or  the 
uselessness  of  drill  is  directly  dependent  on  the  attentive  attitude 
of  the  pupil. 

There  are  two  main  reasons  why  attention  is  so  important 
during  acquisition.  The  first  of  these  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
without  attention  repetition  may  at  times  be  quite  formal  and 
external.  In  other  words,  while  the  pupil  is  "going  through  the 
motions,"  the  repetition  is  purely  seeming  and  make  believe. 

A  good  example  of  seeming  repetition  that  is  formal  and  external 
is  sometimes  found  in  oral  drill  in  concert.  The  pupils  in  a  class  in 
a  foreign  language  are  frequently  required  to  repeat  in  unison  certain 
words,  phrases,  or  sentences  in  order  that  they  may  get  the  correct 
pronunciation.  If  such  a  group  is  observed,  it  is  generally  found  that 
some  few  are  really  leading  in  the  exercise;  many  others  are  moving 
their  lips,  but  are  in  reality  getting  little  or  no  genuine  practice.  The 
repetition  is  purely  formal  and  external.  Written  drill,  like  oral  drill, 
may  also  fail  because  the  pupil  is  giving  no  thought  to  what  he  is 
writing.  It  is  a  practice  of  doubtful  expediency  to  require  pupils 
in  the  elementary  or  in  the  secondary  school  to  memorize  a  list  of 
words  or  facts  by  writing  them  down  time  after  time. 

In  the  second  place,  attention  during  repetition  is  necessary 
in  order  that  the  learner  may  be  aware  of  the  object  of  the  drill 
and  the  elements  that  enter  into  its  successful  accomplishment. 
It  is  extremely  important  that  the  pupil  know  when  he  has 
achieved  what  he  is  expected  to  do;  otherwise  there  is  no  cer- 
tainty that  he  will  be  benefited  by  his  attainment.  This  matter 
was  discussed  at  some  length  in  the  preceding  chapter  *  and  need 
not  be  further  elaborated  here.    In  this  connection,  however,  it 

1  See  p.  159. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 87 

should  be  said  that  one  of  the  principal  reasons  why  a  knowledge 
of  results  is  necessary  is  that  the  pleasure  that  comes  with 
achievement  is  possible  only  when  that  achievement  is  known. 
In  all  learning  of  any  complexity,  at  least,  pleasurable  outcomes 
are  dependent  on  a  knowledge  of  those  outcomes.  Attention, 
then,  on  the  end  to  be  obtained  is  an  essential  element  in  what 
Thorndike  calls  the  Law  of  Effect. 

Not  only  should  the  learner  know  what  the  goal  of  his  en- 
deavors is;  he  should  also  give  attention  to  processes  that  he  is 
following  in  order  to  reach  the  desired  results.  It  is  possible  to 
stumble  on  right  methods  of  practice  without  recognizing  in  any 
way  that  these  are  the  best  methods.  In  this  case  they  are  often 
dropped  and  wasteful  and  wrong  methods  substituted. 

This  essential  principle  in  the  psychology  of  habit-formation  has 
often  been  brought  out  in  the  experimental  literature  on  the  curve 
of  learning.  For  example,  in  an  investigation  recently  conducted  in 
the  laboratory  of  experimental  education  at  Brown  University  in 
which  the  problem  was  to  study  the  improvement  of  three  subjects 
in  folding  handkerchiefs  according  to  a  certain  standard  pattern,  it 
was  found  that  one  of  the  learners  hit  upon  an  economical  device 
used  by  experts  in  this  method  of  folding,  employed  it  for  several 
trials,  and  at  length  dropped  it  without  again  returning  to  it  during 
the  course  of  the  experiment.  There  was  nothing  to  stamp  this 
method  immediately  as  the  one  most  desirable,  and  it  did  not  enter 
sufficiently  into  the  attentive  consciousness  of  the  subject  to  in- 
fluence his  subsequent  learning. 

The  following  is  an  illustration  of  this  principle  taken  from  the 
field  of  high  school  practice: — A  teacher  found  that  several  members 
of  his  class  in  algebra  who  had  for  some  days  handed  in  correct  ex- 
amples in  factoring  polynomials,  were  later  unable  to  do  examples  of 
this  type.  He  concluded  that  his  pupils  had  either  forgotten  the 
method  that  they  had  previously  employed  correctly,  or  that  in 
doing  the  earlier  examples  they  had  received  assistance  outside  of 
the  class.  It  was  suggested  to  the  teacher  that  he  inquire  more 
definitely  into  the  causes  of  their  failure.    On  doing  this,  he  found 


1 88  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

that  in  the  case  of  the  examples  handed  in  correctly,  the  pupils  had 
simply  followed  the  model  examples  in  the  text  in  a  blind  fashion,  not 
definitely  understanding  the  processes  involved.  Later,  when  these 
model  examples  were  no  longer  before  the  pupils,  they  had  no  idea 
of  the  correct  procedure. 

This  fact  has  an  important  bearing  on  the  value  of  incidental 
learning,  as  it  has  been  termed.  Some  have  maintained  that 
much  valuable  drill  is  secured  as  a  by-product.  In  doing  one 
thing  the  learner  is  often  practiced  in  doing  something  else  that 
does  not  appear  as  the  main  part  of  the  learning,  and  which, 
indeed,  may  be  quite  unrecognized  by  the  learner.  While  it  is 
possible  that  this  incidental  drill  may  have  some  effect,  its  value 
in  any  particular  instance  is  so  uncertain  that  it  cannot  be 
safely  employed  as  a  principle  of  learning. 

(d)  Consistency  and  invariability  of  response. — Long  ago  James 
in  his  chapter  on  Habit  pointed  out  the  fact  that  in  order  to 
break  an  undesirable  habit  it  was  necessary  never  to  lapse  into 
it,  when  once  the  reform  had  been  undertaken.  This  is  a  matter 
of  common  experience.  Reeducation  is  much  more  difficult  than 
education.  It  is  better  that  a  pupil  should  come  to  a  subject 
with  no  knowledge  or  skill  regarding  it  than  to  come  to  it  with 
incorrect  notions  and  wasteful  methods.  Sometimes  college 
instructors  say  that  they  do  not  wish  their  students  who  come 
from  the  secondary  school  to  have  had  any  previous  training  in 
the  subjects  they  are  to  take  in  the  higher  institution.  This  is 
because  the  college  teacher  assumes  that  the  teaching  in  the 
lower  school  is  wrong,  and  he  consequently  blames  the  secondary 
teacher;  similarly  the  high  school  teacher  blames  the  elementary 
teacher,  for  often  in  his  opinion,  he  is  the  only  person  who  has 
the  correct  method.  Likewise  the  business  man  sometimes  says 
that  he  does  not  care  to  have  the  novice  in  his  office  familiar 
with  the  courses  in  economics  as  given  in  the  college,  and  occa- 
sionally there  is  a  school  principal  or  superintendent  who  be- 
lieves what  the  student  learns  in  the  normal  school  or  in  the 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD  189 

department  of  education  in  a  university  is  worse  than  nothing, 
because  what  he  learns  is  wrong,  and  he  has  to  be  set  right. 
Probably  in  most  instances  these  people  are  incorrect  in  their 
opinions.  They  are  right,  however,  in  assuming  that  wrong 
practice  is  worse  than  no  practice  at  all. 

An  example  of  the  difficulty  of  overcoming  wrong  practice  is  fur- 
nished me  by  a  teacher  of  history  in  a  city  high  school  which  receives 
a  considerable  number  of  pupils  from  a  small  country  high  school 
offering  a  two-years'  course.  The  pupils  from  the  small  high  school 
have  been  taught  to  study  history  topic  by  topic.  The  teacher  in 
the  city  high  school  found  that  these  pupils  were  able  to  do  little 
more  than  "recite  facts."  A  half-year  was  required  to  habituate 
them  in  methods  of  studying  by  outline  and  problem-questions.  For 
this  reason,  they  failed  to  make  a  satisfactory  grade  in  their  junior 
history  courses,  and  the  teacher  was  obliged  to  give  them  individual 
instruction.  This  doubled  his  work  in  those  classes  in  which  the 
country  high  school  pupils  were  enrolled. 

Not  only  should  the  beginnings  of  drill  be  free  from  the  burden 
of  correcting  bad  methods  previously  acquired,  into  which  there 
is  a  constant  tendency  to  lapse,  but  they  should  be  guarded 
against  falling  into  incorrect  practices  through  lack  of  supervi- 
sion over  the  elementary  processes.  Here  we  see  the  necessity  of 
attention  on  the  elements  of  learning  discussed  in  a  previous 
paragraph. 

It  should  be  pointed  out  that  the  effect  of  doing  something  in  a 
wasteful  or  incorrect  way  is  quite  different  from  not  doing  it  at  all. 
If  a  pupil  pronounces  a  word  correctly  ten  times  in  the  class  and 
then  outside  of  the  class  pronounces  it  ten  times  wrong,  he  has  tended 
to  destroy  the  correct  habit  previously  acquired.  If  he  does  not  pro- 
nounce the  word  outside  of  the  class  at  all,  then  what  he  loses  is  due 
to  a  gradual  waning  of  the  effect  of  his  previous  practice  through 
temporary  cessation  of  the  learning,  but  if  he  pronounces  the  word 
in  the  wrong  way  this  actively  interferes  with  the  correct  associations 
that  have  been  set  up  through  the  class  exercise.    An  analogy  may 


190  INTRODUCTION   TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

serve  to  make  this  fact  clear.  When  I  open  up  the  sluiceway  from 
the  reservoir  to  the  pond,  the  latter  gradually  fills.  When  I  shut  off 
the  supply  from  the  reservoir,  the  water  in  the  pond  slowly  evaporates, 
but  if  I  shut  off  the  sluiceway  and  open  the  channel  from  the  pond 
to  the  stream,  the  water  soon  falls.  Similarly,  when  a  habit  is  being 
formed,  it  becomes  more  and  more  nearly  perfect  through  its  continued 
exercise.  When  I  stop  exercising  it,  the  habit  slowly  loses  its  strength. 
The  sluiceway  has  been  closed,  and  natural  evaporation  is  taking 
place.  However,  when  I  exercise  an  opposing  habit,  the  habit  first 
formed  begins  to  distintegrate.  It  is  being  drained  off,  because  an 
opposing  habit  is  drawing  away  its  strength. 

Summary  of  the  Principal  Reasons  for  the  Failure  of 
Drill  to  Accomplish  Desired  Results. — In  the  light  of  the  fore- 
going discussion  of  the  principal  laws  of  habit-formation,  we  are 
now  prepared  to  answer  with  some  definiteness  the  problem 
presented  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  concerning  the  ap- 
parent contradiction  between  the  experiences  of  the  classroom 
and  the  findings  of  educational  psychology  on  the  value  of  drill 
in  perfecting  skill  and  knowledge.  In  general  we  may  say  that 
drill  is  futile  when  it  relies  merely  on  the  device  of  formal, 
external  repetition  to  achieve  results. 

Pupils  who  do  not  improve  in  algebra,  although  they  are  made 
to  recite  the  same  principle  over  and  over  again,  although  they 
are  constantly  assigned  the  same  type  of  example  to  solve  out- 
side of  class,  at  their  seats,  or  at  the  board,  fail  because  they  are 
merely  repeating  their  work  and  doing  nothing  more.  Perhaps 
they  are  practicing  under  compulsion,  and  it  is  a  dull  grind. 
They  experience  no  pleasure  in  what  they  are  doing,  and  there- 
fore they  do  as  little  as  possible;  perhaps  they  are  going  through 
the  motions  with  no  attention  to  what  they  are  doing,  never 
noticing  when  they  are  in  error,  never  trying  to  work  with 
correct  and  economical  methods,  blundering  heedlessly  and  care- 
lessly along;  perhaps  they  are  practicing  wrong  methods  as  often 
as  right  ones,  forgetting  what  they  learned  in  the  class,  and  un- 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       191 


learning  everything  that  they  have  formerly  partly  acquired. 
The  teacher  must  be  ever  on  the  alert  to  see  that  drill  is  exercised 
under  the  best  possible  conditions.  He  must  attempt  to  make  the 
outcomes  of  the  work  pleasurable,  and  the  practice  as  little  of  a 
grind  as  possible;  he  must  strive  to  focus  the  attention  of  the 
pupil  on  what  he  is  doing  and  how  he  is  doing  it;  he  must  do  all 
that  he  can  to  prevent  exceptions  in  right  methods  from  creeping 
in.    If  he  does  these  things,  drill  is  sure  to  bring  results. 

Some,  who  have  seen  in  drill  nothing  but  barren  repetition, 
and  who  have  found  that  it  often  is  futile,  have  concluded  that 
it  is  a  mere  formal  activity  which  goes  on  without  skilful  direc- 
tion, and  therefore  have  looked  upon  it  as  something  quite 
incidental  to  the  real  business  of  teaching.  Such  persons  have 
hastily  concluded  that  it  makes  little  difference  how  large  a  drill 
class  is,  or  who  conducts  it.  Skill  in  teaching  here  is  at  a  mini- 
mum, hence  it  is  a  matter  of  minor  importance  who  directs  the 
work.  Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  truth.  There  is  just 
as  much  method  to  be  used  in  drill  as  in  the  other  activities  of 
the  recitation.  How  to  drill  the  pupil  is  just  as  much  of  a  problem 
as  how  to  teach  him  to  think.  Both  demand  the  teacher's  highest  art. 
We  have  seen  in  the  preceding  pages  of  this  chapter  some  of 
the  reasons  why  this  is  so,  and  this  topic  will  be  further  devel- 
oped in  what  is  to  follow. 

The  Principle  of  Excess  Activity  in  Learning.— Thorndike 
in  his  Educational  Psychology  has  pointed  out  an  important  prin- 
ciple of  learning  which  he  terms  the  law  of  "Multiple  Response" 
or  "Varied  Reaction."  He  gives  as  an  example  of  this  the 
activities  of  a  kitten  that  is  confined  alone  in  a  small  cage.  "It 
tries  to  squeeze  through  any  openings;  it  claws  and  bites  at  the 
bars  or  wire;  it  thrusts  its  paws  out  through  any  opening  and 
claws  at  everything  it  reaches;  it  continues  its  efforts  when  it 
strikes  anything  loose  and  shaky;  it  may  claw  at  things  within 
the  box.  .  .  .  The  vigor  with  which  it  struggles  is  extraordinary. 
For  eight  or  ten  minutes  it  will  claw  and  bite  and  squeeze  in- 


192  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

cessantly."  These  excessive  waste  motions  are  not  peculial 
alone  to  animals.  In  a  similar  way  the  human  learner  employs 
useless  and  roundabout  methods  in  the  initial  stages  of  the 
formation  of  any  habit.  The  pupil  in  the  school  is  no  exception 
to  this  universal  rule.  It  is  impossible  for  the  teacher  so  to 
instruct  him  that  he  shall  from  the  start  use  only  the  most  direct 
and  economical  methods  of  procedure. 

It  is  a  condition  of  all  learning,  whether  of  the  human  or  the 
animal  type,  that  it  be  based  fundamentally  on  a  superfluity  of 
response.  That  is,  many  things  are  done  that  in  themselves 
accomplish  no  beneficial  result.  For  example,  the  novice  in 
operating  the  typewriter  strikes  the  wrong  key  almost  as  often  as 
he  does  the  right  one,  he  makes  unnecessary  movements  in 
striking  the  right  key,  and  fumbles  the  keyboard  in  a  very 
wasteful  and  uncertain  way.  If  his  movements  were  photo- 
graphed during  the  initial  stages  of  his  learning,  they  would 
resemble  a  tangled  skein  of  yarn;  but  if  a  similar  photograph 
were  made  when  he  has  reached  an  expert  stage,  it  would  be 
found  that  his  movements  would  be  direct  and  relatively  few. 
The  snarl  would  have  become  untangled,  and  from  what  ap- 
peared to  be  a  confused  jumble,  there  would  have  emerged  a 
definite  and  well-organized  set  of  actions.  If  the  learner  is  left 
to  his  own  devices,  he  is  sure  to  blunder  along,  using  many 
useless  motions  time  and  time  again,  and  perhaps  in  the  end 
never  learning  how  to  perform  the  desired  activity  correctly. 
What  is  true  of  learning  to  operate  the  typewriter  is  equally  true 
in  learning  any  act  of  skill,  or  in  fact  in  any  form  of  learning 
whatsoever. 

To  be  convinced  of  this  fact  we  need  only  to  observe  the  common 
school  activities.  The  pupil  who  is  trying  to  follow  a  copy  in  his 
writing  lesson  is  doing  many  things  that  are  in  themselves  useless 
and  wasteful.  We  have  but  to  notice  the  contortions  and  grimaces 
of  his  face,  the  unnecessary  movements  of  his  trunk,  shoulders,  and 
arms,  the  awkward  and  uncertain  strokes  of  his  pen,  to  realize  that 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 93 

his  greatest  need  is  to  eliminate  much  that  is  random  and  uncertain 
in  his  attempts  at  writing.  Similarly,  if  we  observe  a  beginning  class 
in  French,  we  will  see  how  the  few  happy  hits,  so  to  speak,  in  correct 
pronunciation  are  lost  in  scores  of  misses.  The  pupils  in  algebra,  are 
doing  many  things,  but  often  more  are  wrong  than  are  right,  and  so 
it  is  with  every  subject  in  the  curriculum.  The  beginning  stages  are 
characterized  by  a  superfluity  of  physical  and  mental  motions. 

Methods  of  Restricting  the  Field  of  Trial  and  Error  in 
Learning. — It  is  the  problem  of  the  teacher  in  guiding  the  pupil 
to  master  correctly  some  act  of  skill  or  some  subject  of  knowl- 
edge to  aid  him  in  selecting  from  all  his  activities  only_  those^ 
things  that  are  valuable  in  perfecting  him  in  the  desired  acquisi- 
tion. In  other  words,  the  function  of  the  teacher  is  that  of 
judiciously  restricting  for  the  learner  the  field  of  trial  and  error. 
This  may  be  done  in  several  ways. 

(a)  The  teacher  must  present  to  the  pupil  an  effective  copy. — 
In  every  subject  there  must  be  constantly  before  the  pupil  a 
specific  standard  of  achievement.  As  this  fact  has  been  discussed 
somewhat  in  detail  in  the  preceding  chapter,  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  amplify  the  topic  here  only  in  one  particular,  namely, — by 
considering  the  characteristics  of  an  effective  copy. 

Obviously  such  a  copy  must  be  correct.  No  teacher  can  hope  to 
instruct  a  class  in  a  foreign  language  by  the  direct  method  whose 
pronunciation  is  imperfect,  and  whose  use  of  the  language  is 
halting  and  uncertain.  As  bad  as  the  grammatical  method  is, 
the  teacher  who  has  not  obtained  a  reasonable  mastery  of  a 
language  has  no  alternative  but  to  resort  to  this  unpsychological 
method  of  instruction. 

A  young  woman  of  good  ability  who  had  specialized  in  history  and 
social  science  in  her  college  course,  but  who  had  taken  only  a  small 
amount  of  foreign  language,  taught  during  her  initial  year  in 
a  small  high  school  where  she  was  required  to  give  instruction  in 
various  subjects,  including  first-year  French.  During  her  college 
course,  she  had  heard  much  about  the  value  of  the  direct  method  of 


194  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

language  teaching.  Consequently,  she  attempted  to  employ  this 
method  in  her  French  class.  She  confused  her  pupils,  because  of  her 
ignorance  of  the  spoken  language,  and  they  soon  formed  the  idea 
that  she  did  not  know  her  subject.  This  not  only  affected  her  in- 
struction, but  also  her  discipline.  Matters  were  becoming  serious, 
and  she  was  advised  to  change  her  method,  and  follow  the  grammar 
and  exercise  book.  Immediately  conditions  improved,  and  by  the 
end  of  the  first  semester,  the  class  was  doing  work  of  a  good  grade, 
and  the  problem  of  discipline  had  entirely  disappeared. 

Not  only  must  the  copy  be  correct;  it  must  be  clearly  and 
definitely  presented.  It  is  a  common  fault  of  teachers  not  to 
make  clear  enough  just  what  they  wish  their  pupils  to  do.  If  the 
teacher  speaks  indistinctly  or  so  low  that  he  cannot  easily  be 
heard,  the  pupils  are  not  likely  to  make  an  effort  to  find  out  what 
he  is  saying.  If  he  writes  something  for  their  instruction  on  the 
board,  or  shows  them  some  object,  or  demonstrates  to  them  a 
method  of  procedure,  he  must  present  these  details  in  such  a 
way  that  they  will  easily  be  seen. 

One  of  the  most  successful  teachers  in  the  writer's  acquaintance  is 
a  high  school  instructor  in  physical  science  who  devotes  considerable 
time  each  day  in  devising  plans  for  making  his  instruction  pointed 
and  clear-cut.  He  seldoms  teaches  a  lesson  which  he  has  not  pre- 
viously thought  out  with  specific  attention  on  those  points  which  he 
wishes  to  illustrate.  He  is  ingenious  in  devising  illustrative  ma- 
terials; he  always  speaks  incisively,  and  with  deliberation;  he  uses 
the  blackboard  to  make  every  obscure  point  intelligible,  and  he  in- 
sists that  his  pupils  be  concise  and  clear  in  their  speech.  The  demon- 
strations that  he  performs  before  the  class  are  gone  over  in  advance 
of  the  lesson  to  make  sure  that  they  can  be  seen,  and  that  they  will 
work  out  as  he  has  planned. 

Again,  a  copy  must  be  not  excessively  difficult  to  imitate.  In  the 
manual  arts,  instructors  seldom  make  the  mistake  of  requiring 
pupils  to  construct  something  that  is  beyond  their  abilities.  Not 
infrequently,  however,  teachers  of  the  "academic  subjects"  set 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 95 

tasks  that  the  majority  of  the  class  fail  to  do.  The  novice  in 
teaching  with  his  college  standards  fresh  in  mind  is  particularly 
prone  to  this  mistake. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  necessity  of  adapting  standards  of  in- 
struction to  the  capacities  of  the  learner,  the  writer  recalls  the  in- 
stance of  a  man  of  great  ability  and  scientific  attainment,  who  failed 
absolutely  as  a  high  school  instructor,  for  the  sole  reason  that  he 
carried  over  the  content  and  method  of  the  graduate  school  of  the 
university  to  the  high  school.  His  pupils  learned  little  from  him 
because  of  the  fact  that  he  could  not  readjust  his  ideas  and  practices 
to  suit  the  high  school  situation. 

Finally,  the  copy  must  be  one  which  the  pupil  desires  to  imitate. 
This  principle  is  particularly  important  in  setting  up  standards 
of  conduct.  The  "model  pupil "  is  only  a  model  when  he  is  held 
in  respect  by  his  schoolmates.  If  he  is  without  influence  or  is 
looked  down  upon  by  the  pupils,  he  cannot  affect  beneficially 
the  actions  of  his  fellows.  Standards  of  correct  speech  have 
often  very  little  value,  from  the  simple  fact  that  pupils  do  not 
care  whether  they  speak  correctly  or  not.  This  is  one  of  the 
reasons  why  it  is  so  extremely  difficult  to  inculcate  in  the  average 
high  school  pupil  proper  habits  of  oral  English.  Unless  pupils 
wish  to  speak  correctly,  it  is  practically  impossible  to  drill  them 
to  do  so. 

An  efficient  teacher  of  English  who  has  succeeded  in  a  rather  marked 
way  in  improving  the  oral  expression  of  his  pupils  does  not  attempt 
to  correct  all  of  the  errors  of  speech  that  occur  during  the  recitation. 
Attention  is  focused  on  the  gravest  and  most  frequent  mistakes  only. 
No  large  amount  of  time  is  spent  during  the  class  period  in  drilling 
pupils  on  correct  forms,  but  whenever  mistakes  occur  the  teacher 
attempts  to  make  the  pupil  concerned  ashamed  of  his  lapses.  Since 
this  instructor  possesses  tact  and  is  liked  by  his  pupils  he  is  able  to 
follow  this  method  without  arousing  resentment.  He  has  succeeded 
in  developing  in  the  class  a  spirit  of  pride  in  correct  speech  and  a  dis- 
taste for  the  most  flagrant  errors. 


I96  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

(b)  The  teacher  must  condition  the  environment  of  the  pupil  in 
such  a  manner  that  it  will  not  be  possible  for  him  to  go  widely  astray 
in  his  learning. — The  pupil  if  left  entirely  without  guidance,  will 
stumble  along  in  a  most  uncert  in  manner.  His  path  must  in  a 
measure  be  marked  out  for  him.  In  the  laboratory  he  must  be 
provided  with  proper  materials  and  apparatus,  if  he  is  to  get  the 
desired  results  without  an  excessive  waste  of  time.  Instructors 
often  allow  their  laboratory  equipment  to  deteriorate.  It  is 
constantly  out  of  order,  and  will  never  work  satisfactorily. 
Similarly  the  instructor  in  the  manual  arts  must  see  to  it  that  the 
tools  and  materials  to  be  used  are  in  proper  condition,  and  in 
their  proper  places.  In  text-book  subjects,  corresponding  rules 
hold. 

A  teacher  of  history  who  employs  with  his  senior  pupils  the  library 
method  to  some  extent  has  made  it  succeed  largely  because  he  has 
systematized  the  procedure  of  finding  topics  in  books  and  looking 
up  authorities.  One  of  his  chief  devices  is  a  carefully  constructed 
card-catalog,  arranged  according  to  a  topical  analysis.  He  has  habit- 
uated his  pupils  in  the  use  of  this  with  very  satisfactory  results. 

(c)  The  teacher  must  encourage  the  pupil  to  think  about  what  he 
is  doing,  and  how  he  is  doing  it. — In  a  preceding  paragraph  in 
the  present  chapter,  we  have  discussed  the  fact  that  attention  is 
an  important  condition  of  correct  habit-formation  because  it 
emphasizes  the  goal  of  the  learner's  efforts,  and  also  the  elements 
that  enter  in  to  make  the  habit  perfect.  Further,  it  is  valuable 
as  a  preliminary  means  of  determining  the  nature  of  the  learning 
to  be  undertaken.  It  is  worse  than  futile  to  plunge  the  pupil 
into  a  drill  activity  at  that  stage  of  learning  when  thought  and 
careful  observation  are  required.  When  the  processes  to  be 
exercised  are  not  well  understood,  when  the  means  of  getting 
results  are  not  comprehended,  then  repetition  is  likely  to  be 
wrong,  and  the  resulting  practice  may  be  harmful.  It  should  be 
an  invariable  rule  of  the  teacher  carefully  to  develop  and  ex- 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       1 97 

plain  to  the  pupil  all  new  processes,  methods,  and  facts  on  which 
the  pupil  is  to  be  drilled,  and  it  should  further  be  the  aim  of  the 
instructor  to  lead  the  pupil  to  think  for  himself  in  regard  to  these 
things. 

The  writer  recently  observed  a  class  in  algebra  in  which  this  fault 
was  brought  out.  The  teacher  was  drilling  the  pupils  on  fundamental 
processes  in  fractions.  For  the  most  part  the  exercise  was  effective, 
but  it  failed  entirely  at  one  point  because  the  instructor  failed  to 
recognize  that  the  slow  and  halting  responses  of  the  class  were  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  pupils  did  not  understand  how  to  simplify  certain 
expressions.  The  teacher,  however,  continued  to  insist  on  sheer 
repetition  when  explanation  and  illustration  were  required. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  question  of  helping  the  pupil  to  limit 
the  field  of  trial  and  error  through  giving  him  definite  instruction 
as  to  what  to  do  in  specific  instances,  we  are  in  danger  of  falling 
into  one  of  two  extremes;  we  are  likely  either  to  show  and  ex- 
plain too  much  or  too  little.  If  we  explain  too  much,  we  are  in 
danger  of  doing  a  large  part  of  the  work  for  him,  and  conse- 
quently what  he  does  is  in  no  real  sense  of  the  word  his  own,  and 
since  it  is  not  his  own,  there  is  no  genuine  learning,  only  seeming 
learning.  If  we  explain  and  show  too  little  then  the  pupil 
stumbles  along  and  often  gets  nowhere.1 

This  difficulty  becomes  at  times  a  pressing  one  in  the  teaching  of 
laboratory  science.  We  cannot  go  into  detailed  explanations  of  just 
what  the  pupil  should  do  in  every  phase  of  the  experiment  that  he 
is  to  perform.  He  will  get  little  real  benefit  out  of  a  course  conducted 
in  this  manner,  if  we  wish  to  inculcate  in  him  the  fundamental 
ideals  of  scientific  methods  and  procedure,  or  if  we  wish  to  make 
him  resourceful  in  the  further  conduct  of  experimental  work.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  we  do  not  give  him  a  reasonable  amount  of  instruction 
and  assistance,  he  will  find  the  difficulties  so  great  that  he  soon  be- 
comes discouraged  in  regard  to  the  work.    A  similar  problem  presents 

1  See  Chapter  XI.,  p.  240. 


198  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

itself  in  the  question  of  supervised  study  in  the  high  school.  The 
purpose  of  this  is  to  direct  the  pupils  in  the  methods  that  they  should 
follow  in  getting  their  lessons,  and  to  help  them  when  they  meet 
difficulties  that  are  too  great  for  them  to  overcome  with  a  reasonable 
expenditure  of  time  and  effort.  Here  the  rule  should  be  to  help  pupils 
to  the  extent  of  showing  them  how  to  solve  genuine  difficulties,  but 
not  to  the  extent  of  doing  the  work  for  them.  This  matter  will  be 
discussed  in  greater  detail  in  Chapter  XVII. 

There  is  a  great  temptation  on  the  part  of  teachers  to  do  too 
much  of  the  work  of  the  pupil  for  him.  In  general  the  work  goes 
so  much  more  smoothly  under  these  conditions  that  it  gives  the 
impression  of  being  done  effectively,  because  the  halting,  stum- 
bling, and  uncertainty  of  the  pupil  are  practically  eliminated. 
Further,  it  is  so  much  easier  in  the  initial  stages  of  learning  to  do 
something  for  the  learner  than  to  show  him  how  to  do  it  for 
himself,  that  most  teachers  and  parents  are  not  willing  to  take 
the  time  or  to  employ  the  patience  necessary  to  set  the  child  on 
the  right  road,  where  he  can  gradually  learn  to  accomplish  by 
his  own  efforts  those  things  that  he  should  master  for  himself. 
It  is  one  of  the  great  merits  of  the  Montessori  system,  that 
children  are  shown  how  to  acquire  simple  habits  through  the 
teacher's  directing  their  activities  in  such  a  way  as  to  stimulate 
their  initiative. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD. — ECONOMICAL  METHODS  OF 

DRILL 

Aspects  of  Drill  that  Further  or  Hinder  Learning. — 
In  Chapter  VII.  various  aspects  of  classroom  waste  were  dis- 
cussed. Here  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  pupil  may  have 
wasteful  methods  of  learning,  and  the  instructor  wasteful  meth- 
ods of  teaching,  among  which  roundabout  and  unpsychological 
methods  of  drill  play  an  important  part.  Detailed  consideration 
of  this  topic  was  left,  however,  for  elaboration  at  a  later  time. 
It  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  chapter  to  consider  this  important 
aspect  of  the  problem  of  economy  in  the  lesson  period  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  principles  underlying  the  psychology  of  habit- 
formation.  Some  of  these  principles  have  been  discussed  in  the 
preceding  chapter;  others  will  be  mentioned  here,  and  their 
application  to  school  procedure  pointed  out.  As  we  progress  in 
the  discussion,  we  shall  see  that  uneconomical  methods  of  drill 
constitute  one  of  the  chief  elements  in  the  wastes  that  arise  from 
school  practices.  For  example,  it  is  evident  from  what  has 
already  been  said  in  Chapter  IX.,  that  drill  which  is  a  merely 
formal,  and  not  a  genuine  mental,  activity,  that  drill  that  is 
monotonous  and  irksome,  that  drill  that  is  devoid  of  attention 
directed  toward  the  proper  aspects  of  the  subject  to  be  learned, 
that  drill  which  is  fluctuating  and  haphazard,  that  drill  that  is 
not  properly  supervised  and  directed,  is  likely  to  accomplish 
little.  Under  such  unfavorable  conditions  small  improvement 
is  to  be  expected  in  ordinary  school  practice.  Other  conditions 
that  affect  learning  are  the  following: — 

(a)  The  elements  that  are  emphasized  in  drill  must  be  associated 

199 


200  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

in  their  proper  order. — Thorndike  has  emphasized  the  fact  in 
his  discussion  of  habit-formation  that  it  is  extremely  important 
that  the  sequence  of  elements  in  an  act  of  physical  or  mental  skill 
should  be  the  most  direct,  natural,  and  economical.  In  the  first 
place  a  habit  should  be  formed  in  the  direction  in  which  it  is  to  be 
used.  If  you  wish  to  say  the  alphabet  from  a  to  z,  you  must 
learn  it  in  that  direction.  Try  to  repeat  the  alphabet  backwards, 
if  you  have  had  no  practice,  and  note  the  result.  A  direct  appli- 
cation of  this  principle  to  the  ordinary  procedure  of  the  high 
school  is  found  in  the  learning  of  vocabularies  of  a  foreign  lan- 
guage. If  the  aim  is  to  translate  into  English,  then  the  order 
should  be  from  the  foreign  word  to  its  English  equivalent;  if  the 
aim  is  to  translate  from  English  into  the  foreign  language,  then 
the  reverse  procedure  is  the  more  economical.  It  is  a  matter  of 
common  experience  that  pupils  who  can  translate  into  English 
well,  may  do  their  work  in  composition  poorly.  One  reason  for 
this  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  a  habit  formed  in  one  direction 
is  not  necessarily  formed  in  the  opposite. 

It  should  further  be  remembered  that  a  habit  that  is  to  be 
used  in  many  different  situations  should  not  be  drilled  in  one 
specific  situation  only.  Thorndike  states  this  principle  as  fol- 
lows,— "Form  a  habit  in  the  way  in  which  it  is  to  be  used."  For 
example,  it  is  not  wise  to  drill  upon  tables  in  the  fundamental 
operations  in  arithmetic.  We  should  drill  on  the  important 
number  combinations  as  they  arise  in  ordinary  school  practice, 
without  particular  reference  to  any  formal  arrangement.  We 
use  these  combinations  in  no  particular  sequence  in  ordinary 
arithmetical  operations;  if  we  learn  them  in  a  definite  order, 
then  as  a  rule  we  recall  them  in  the  order  learned,  and  this  may 
often  prove  an  extremely  wasteful  method.  The  child  that  is 
given  the  number  combination  3x7  should  be  able  instantly  to 
respond  21;  but  if  he  is  a  slave  to  a  table,  he  may  be  obliged  to 
begin  with  3x1,  and  go  through  the  entire  list  until  he  reaches 
the  proper  combination. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       201 

The  most  obvious  application  of  this  principle  in  the  teaching  of 
secondary  school  subjects  is  found  in  the  languages.  If  the  pupil 
has  learned  a  language  by  the  strictly  logical  and  grammatical  method, 
he  is  often  obliged  to  go  through  his  paradigms,  before  he  can  make  a 
proper  use  of  his  forms.  The  procedure  is  then  as  follows: — The 
pupil  is  asked  by  the  teacher  to  give  the  Latin  equivalent  of  "they 
love."  He  begins  by  identifying  the  form  as  third  person  plural, 
present  tense,  indicative  mood  of  the  verb  amare.  When  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  properly  placing  the  form,  then  he  starts  with  the  first  per- 
son indicative,  amo,  and  continues, — amas,  amat,  amamus,  amatis, 
amant.  The  waste  here  is  clearly  apparent.  No  one  who  has  learned 
a  language  in  this  way  alone  can  have  fluency  in  its  use.  It  will  always 
be  something  of  a  puzzle  to  him.  The  principle  applies  not  merely 
to  the  teaching  of  a  foreign  language,  but  obviously  to  some  of  the 
more  grammatical  methods  of  English  instruction.  The  lack  of  econ- 
omy in  such  a  procedure  constitutes  an  important  argument  for  teach- 
ing a  language  largely  by  the  so-called  direct  method,  referred  to  in 
an  earlier  part  of  our  discussions.  It  is  one  of  the  chief  advantages 
of  the  direct  method  that  words,  idioms,  and  expressions  in  general 
are  learned  in  connection  with  their  use,  and  the  formal  aspects  of 
the  language  are  brought  in  incidentally  and  not  as  the  chief  means 
of  acquiring  skill  in  the  language.  It  is  a  safe  rule  for  the  teacher  of 
a  language  to  follow  which  insists  that  the  grammatical  method,  if 
used,  shall  be  supplemented  by  drill  in  the  language  as  it  is  actually 
spoken  or  written. 

It  is  also  to  be  kept  in  mind  that  there  is  a  proper  sequence 
in  which  the  elements  that  enter  into  any  habit  should  be  taken 
up.  There  is  a  best  possible  order  of  learning.  For  example,  in 
teaching  the  German  language,  is  it  desirable  to  introduce  the 
pupil  to  writing  the  Schrift  from  the  start,  or  can  this  be  ad- 
vantageously postponed  until  a  later  time?  In  studying  a 
foreign  language,  should  correct  habits  of  grammatical  usage  and 
analysis  be  firmly  established  before  translation  is  begun?  In 
acquiring  the  fundamental  principles  in  algebra,  should  one 
process  be  fully  mastered  in  all  of  its  details,  before  another  is 


202  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

undertaken?  In  the  answering  of  these  and  similar  questions,  no 
dogmatic  reply  should  be  given.  However,  certain  guiding 
principles  may  be  beneficially  applied  by  the  teacher  in  solving 
these  problems. 

In  the  first  place,  the  more  interesting  aspects  of  the  subject 
should  be  taken  up  as  soon  as  possible.  This  means,  for  example, 
that  the  pupil  should  soon  begin  to  use  a  language  in  reading  and 
in  speaking,  and  should  not  have  his  interest  killed,  by  a  long  and 
tedious  drill  on  elements  that  he  cannot  use.  This  also  means 
that  in  such  subjects  as  the  manual  arts  actual  construction 
should  not  be  delayed  by  many  formal  exercises.  These  facts 
have  already  been  touched  on  in  our  discussions  in  regard  to  the 
function  of  interest  in  learning. 

In  the  second  place,  the  less  difficult  elements  in  the  learning 
should  be  given  before  the  introduction  of  the  more  difficult.  For 
example,  it  is  a  doubtful  practice  to  introduce  the  study  of  a 
foreign  language  by  long  and  intricate  discussions  of  phonetics, 
and  drills  on  the  same.  In  Latin  the  use  of  conditional  sen- 
tences, seldom  found  in  the  literature  read  during  the  earlier 
years  of  the  course,  should  not  be  taught  during  the  first  year  of 
study,  as  is  at  present  frequently  the  case.  In  algebra  the  more 
complicated  methods  of  factoring  should  be  postponed  until  rela- 
tively late;  in  stenography  the  simple  principles  should  be  mas- 
tered without  too  much  regard  for  method  or  formal  order, 
and  exceptions  that  are  difficult  may  reasonably  be  brought  in 
long  after  the  more  simple  rules  have  been  mastered;  in  English 
composition  some  of  the  refinements  of  diction  may  be  omitted 
temporarily  and  the  attention  devoted  to  the  more  fundamental 
and  more  easily  comprehended  errors.  The  reasons  why  teach- 
ers and  writers  of  texts  have  so  often  violated  this  rule  of  com- 
mon sense  are  two.  As  has  been  said  previously,  they  have  set 
up  ideals  of  completeness  and  logical  sequence  that  may  be  quite 
justifiable  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  subject,  but  are  entirely 
at  variance  not  only  with  the  findings  of  psychology  in  regard 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       203 

to  the  mind  of  the  learner,  but  also  with  the  observations  of  all 
who  have  given  any  thought  to  the  nature  of  the  child  and  the 
youth. 

In  the  third  place,  difficulties  should  not  be  introduced  until 
fundamentals  have  been  so  mastered  that  the  addition  of  new  proces- 
ses will  not  interfere  with  the  establishment  of  the  old,  and  will  not  in 
turn  be  interfered  with  by  the  old  still  in  process  of  formation.  For 
example,  it  is  clearly  not  desirable  to  trouble  the  pupil  about 
rules  of  scansion  in  Latin  verse,  when  he  has  not  mastered  vo- 
cabularies, forms  and  idioms  sufficiently  well  to  translate  with 
fair  ease;  it  would  be  folly  to  compel  the  learner  to  solve  prob- 
lems in  simple  equations  before  he  had  mastered  the  mechanics 
of  these  operations;  it  would  be  useless  to  expect  the  novice  to 
take  general  dictation  in  stenography  before  he  had  a  con- 
siderable familiarity  with  outlines  and  logograms  and  practice 
in  their  use. 

Sometimes  imposing  a  difficult  habit  on  the  learner  before  more 
simple  habits  have  been  fully  learned,  checks  all  further  progress. 
This  was  clearly  brought  to  the  mind  of  the  writer  in  an  experiment 
conducted  under  the  direction  of  the  seminary  of  experimental  edu- 
cation at  Brown  University.  This  experiment  had  as  its  object  the 
determination  of  the  learning  curve  of  a  subject  who  was  learning  to 
operate  the  linotype,  a  power  machine  used  by  type-setters  and  com- 
positors. The  linotype  resembles  in  some  particulars  the  typewriter, 
but  it  is  more  complicated  in  its  operation,  and  differs  from  the  type- 
writer in  several  essentials.  One  of  the  most  important  of  these  is  the 
necessity  of  "justifying  the  line"  in  composition  on  the  linotype. 
"Justification"  relates  to  the  fact  that  the  end  of  every  line  of  printed 
matter  must  be  in  strict  alignment  with  all  the  other  lines  on  the 
page,  or  in  the  column.  In  order  that  each  line  shall  be  the  proper 
length,  the  compositor  must  make  an  accurate  and  rapid  judgment 
as  he  nears  the  end  of  the  line  as  to  how  it  is  coming  out,  and  then 
operate  his  machine  accordingly.  In  the  case  of  the  learner  whose 
curve  of  progress  was  being  studied  the  attempt  to  justify  the  line 
was  begun  before  some  of  the  more  simple  habits  of  manipulation 


204  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

had  been  at  all  perfected,  and  as  a  result  no  further  progress  was 
made.  After  weeks  of  trial  the  learner,  completely  discouraged,  gave 
up  further  attempts  at  mastering  the  technique  of  the  machine. 

In  the  fourth  place,  those  habits,  the  acquisition  of  which  in  the 
proper  order  is  essential  to  other  habits  later  to  be  formed,  must  be 
early  introduced  It  is  obvious  that  some  mastery  of  vocab- 
ularies must  come  before  facility  in  translation  is  acquired,  that  a 
familiarity  with  some  of  the  more  important  facts  in  history  is 
necessary  before  there  can  be  any  skill  in  historical  reasoning, 
that  the  knowledge  of  certain  chemical  formulae  and  drill  in 
their  use  is  imperative  if  the  results  of  an  experiment  in  the 
laboratory  or  a  demonstration  in  the  classroom  are  to  be  under- 
stood. This  principle  of  learning  cannot  be  violated,  and  satis- 
factory results  follow.  Unfortunately  at  times  these  habits  that 
are  fundamental  to  the  formation  of  others  may  be  difficult  and 
uninteresting,  and  hence  a  conflict  between  this  principle  and 
those  that  have  preceded  may  arise.  However,  the  teacher  must 
always  consider  in  such  cases  relative  values,  and  act  not  for- 
mally or  blindly,  but  after  careful  consideration. 

In  the  fifth  place,  any  habit  that  must  be  dealt  with  in  the  initial 
stages  of  learning  will  be  formed  improperly  if  attention  is  not  given 
to  it  from  the  beginning.  For  example,  if  the  teacher  does  not 
insist  on  the  correct  pronunciation  of  words  in  French,  German, 
Spanish,  and  Latin  from  the  very  first,  improper  pronunciation 
will  soon  become  a  habit,  and  it  will  be  exceedingly  difficult  later 
to  break  it  and  form  a  correct  habit  in  its  place;  if  logical  se- 
quences in  demonstrations  in  geometry  are  not  initiated  in  the 
first  few  lessons,  they  are  likely  never  to  be,  and  the  habit  of 
loose  thinking  in  this  subject  will  be  established;  if  the  proper 
position  of  the  hands  in  learning  to  use  the  typewriter  is  not 
drilled  on  from  the  beginning,  incorrect  methods  will  be  learned, 
and  these  cannot  be  broken  later  without  enormous  difficulty. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  necessary  to  drill  pupils  continually 


THE  METHODS   OF  THE   CLASS   PERIOD  205 

correct  oral  speech  in  order  that  their  written  discourse  may 
>e  reasonably  free  from  errors. 

(b)  Unnecessary  elements  should  not  be  introduced  in  a  habit, 
even  with  the  intention  of  ultimately  eliminating  them. — This  is 
another  important  principle  in  the  economy  of  learning  insisted 
upon  by  Thorndike.  The  child  who  is  to  learn  quickly  to 
multiply  and  divide  fractions,  must  gain  facility  through  meth- 
ods of  rapid  calculation  such  as  cancellation,  and  should  not 
first  be  taught  a  more  cumbersome  and  roundabout  method, 
such  as  reducing  all  the  fractions  to  a  common  denominator,  and 
then  multiplying  or  dividing  the  numerators.  Neither  should 
he  be  given  elaborate  practice  in  visualizing  fractional  relation- 
ships in  performing  simple  exercises  in  fractions,  for  the  very 
apparent  reason  that  the  process  of  visualization  is  a  cumber- 
some and  awkward  method  of  manipulation,  and  one  that  must 
soon  be  dropped  for  another  method  of  procedure,  particularly 
when  fractions  of  any  complexity  are  to  be  dealt  with.  The 
principle  of  the  elimination  of  unnecessary  elements  in  habit- 
formation  has  several  aspects.  One  maxim  reads: — "Do  not 
form  a  habit  that  must  be  broken  later"  an  example  of  which  is 
to  be  found  in  the  school  practice  in  regard  to  fractions,  just  dis- 
cussed. Another  maxim  reads: — "Do  not  introduce  an  element 
into  the  habit  that  is  unnecessary  in  its  exercise." 

The  best  illustration  of  waste  in  the  classroom  due  to  the  violation 
of  this  second  maxim,  as  far  as  instruction  in  the  high  school  is  con- 
cerned, is  again  found  in  methods  of  language  teaching.  If  the  aim 
of  instruction  in  a  foreign  language  is  ability  to  read  and  understand 
it,  then  the  translation  method  as  ordinarily  employed  is  clearly 
uneconomical.  In  translation  an  association  is  formed  between  the 
foreign  word,  its  English  equivalent,  and  the  meaning  of  the  English 
word.  What  is  required  in  order  that  a  language  may  be  understood 
is  to  associate  the  foreign  word  with  the  meaning.  The  additional 
association  of  the  English  word  is  unnecessary  and  wasteful.  The 
person  who  can  use  a  language  well  is  able  to  "  think  in  the  language," 


206  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

as  the  phrase  goes.  Translation  is  uneconomical  and  often  distorts 
the  meaning  of  the  language.  In  the  writer's  own  case,  he  finds  a 
marked  difference  in  his  use  of  German  and  of  French.  French  he 
learned  in  the  schools,  and  he  is  always  obliged  to  translate  into  Eng- 
lish in  order  to  get  the  meaning,  while  German  he  learned  chiefly  in 
Germany,  and  through  the  direct  connection  between  words  and 
their  ideas.  The  difference  in  ability  to  use  these  two  languages  is 
marked,  and  cannot  all  be  traced  to  the  fact  that  greater  practice  was 
had  in  one  than  in  the  other.  This  is  another  argument  for  the  use 
of  the  direct  method  of  teaching  language,  if  the  aim  of  such  teaching 
is  primarily  facility  in  the  use  of  the  language.  For  those  that  insist, 
however,  that  the  chief  value  in  language  instruction  is  not  to  be 
found  in  acquiring  the  ability  to  speak,  write,  and  read  the  language, 
but  in  the  formal  training  that  is  incidental  to  the  learning  of  the 
language,  and  in  the  added  facility  that  is  gained  in  understanding 
and  using  English,  then  these  arguments  in  favor  of  the  direct  method 
of  instruction  will  have  little  force,  for  by  such  persons  it  will  be  in- 
sisted that  grammar  must  be  taught,  because  grammar  trains  the 
pupil  to  think  and  discriminate,  and  that  translation  must  be  insisted 
on  in  order  that  the  pupil  may  be  trained  in  the  use  of  English  as  well 
as  in  the  use  of  the  foreign  language  that  he  is  studying. 

The  maxim  which  enjoins  the  learner  from  forming  a  habit  that 
must  later  be  broken  finds  illustrations  from  the  teaching  of  many 
subjects  in  the  secondary  school.  Some  examples  of  its  violation  are 
the  following: — accustoming  the  pupil  to  study  a  history  lesson  from 
an  outline  prepared  in  advance  by  the  teacher;  drilling  the  pupil  on 
outlines  in  stenography  which  cannot  be  economically  employed 
when  a  stage  of  proficiency  has  been  reached;  habituating  the  pupil 
in  Latin  to  look  for  the  subject  and  predicate  in  a  sentence,  rather 
than  requiring  the  pupil  to  read  the  sentence  in  the  order  in  which  it 
is  written;  insisting  that  the  pupil  shall  write  his  themes  with  strict 
observance  of  the  formal  types  of  discourse,  such  as  narration,  de- 
scription, exposition,  and  argumentation,  rather  than  accustoming 
him  to  tell  what  is  in  his  mind  in  the  most  direct  and  practical  way, 
bringing  in  these  various  forms  of  discourse  as  they  naturally  arise; 
and  so  on  through  a  long  list  of  school  practices.  The  teacher  should 
make  it  an  unvarying  rule  to  teach  every  subject  in  the  way  in  which 


. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       20"J 


is  ultimately  to  be  used,  unless  there  is  a  very  definite  and  justifiable 
reason  for  adopting  an  opposite  procedure. 

(c)  Habits  must  be  formed  in  definite  situations,  they  cannot  be 
acquired  in  general. — It  has  long  been  a  recognized  principle  in 
the  psychology  of  learning  that  habits  are  specific  in  their  na- 
ture. For  example,  ability  to  spell  orally  does  not  necessarily 
imply  an  equal  ability  to  spell  when  the  word  is  written  or  vice 
versa.  Further,  ability  to  spell  correctly  when  one  uses  a  pen  or 
pencil  does  not  mean  that  one  will  have  an  equal  ability  to  spell 
when  one  uses  the  typewriter.  In  order  to  spell  correctly  under  a 
given  set  of  conditions,  the  learner  must  have  had  practice  in 
spelling  under  these  conditions. 

This  fact  was  vividly  impressed  On  the  author  when  he  first  began 
to  use  the  typewriter.  He  found  that  his  spelling  suffered  to  a  marked 
degree.  Words  that  he  had  long  been  familiar  with  were  written  in 
most  unusual  ways.  This  fact  was  also  called  to  his  attention  in 
attempting  to  determine  the  learning  curve  of  the  novice  who  was 
striving  to  master  the  linotype.  The  subject  of  the  experiment  had 
been  employed  as  a  proof-reader  in  a  newspaper  office,  and  was  gener- 
ally considered  a  capable  person.  He  had  a  good  knowledge  of  spell- 
ing and  punctuation.  When  he  began  to  compose  on  the  linotype, 
however,  mistakes  in  spelling  and  punctuation  were  numerous.  Evi- 
dently he  did  not  possess  an  ability  to  spell  and  punctuate  in  general, 
although  he  did  possess  that  ability  when  he  read  proof. 

As  a  further  illustration  of  the  fact  that  habits  are  formed  in  definite 
situations,  and  that  similar  habits  must  be  formed  over  again  in  new 
situations,  we  need  only  to  remember  that  ability  to  write  English 
is  often  found  in  the  English  classes  in  school,  and  not  in  classes  in 
history,  science,  and  foreign  language.  The  teacher  who  expects  his 
pupils  to  write  well  in  the  subject  in  which  he  gives  instruction  must 
accustom  them  to  proper  writing  in  connection  with  that  subject. 
He  cannot  be  sure  that  the  habits  formed  in  the  classes  in  English 
will  carry  over  to  work  in  other  subjects. 

Teachers  often  make  the  mistake  of  supposing  that  activities 
that  are  called  by  the  same  name  are  essentially  the  same  in  the 


208  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

mind  of  the  learner.  To  add  means  quite  a  different  thing  when 
it  is  the  addition  of  numbers  of  one  digit  than  when  it  is  the 
addition  of  numbers  of  two  or  more;  using  grammatical  English 
in  a  written  exercise  is  different  from  using  it  when  speaking;; 
acquiring  the  problem  attitude  in  algebra  is  a  different  matter 
from  acquiring  it  in  geometry;  using  constructive  imagination 
in  planning  a  design  in  manual  training  is  not  the  same  thing 
as  using  it  in  writing  a  story,  or  in  designing  scenery  for  a  play. 
There  is  much  waste  in  matters  of  drill  because  of  the  fact  that 
these  fundamental  differences  are  not  definitely  understood  by 
the  teacher,  and  as  a  result  it  is  often  assumed  that  the  pupil 
who  has  acquired  facility  in  one  kind  of  school  practice  has 
without  further  training  a  similar  ability  in  a  different  kind  of 
practice.  The  pupil  often  fails  because  he  does  not  have  the  drill 
necessary  to  do  the  new  task,  which  is  erroneously  assumed  to  be 
identical  with  the  old.  It  is  as  uneconomical  not  to  give  drill 
when  it  is  needed,  as  to  require  it  when  it  is  superfluous. 

The  fact  that  habits  are  specific  and  that  when  formed  in  one 
situation  they  do  not  necessarily  operate  in  others,  raises  the 
question  of  formal  training,  and  its  value  as  a  main  objective  in 
teaching.  This  is  a  matter  of  no  little  importance  to  the  second- 
ary school  teacher,  who  must  often  ask  himself  questions  like 
the  following: — "Is  my  aim  in  teaching  geometry  to  develop 
skill  in  logical  reasoning? "  "Shall  I  strive  in  this  course  in 
English  to  inculcate  general  habits  of  order  and  neatness?' ' 
"  Can  I  hope  in  my  laboratory  classes  to  habituate  the  pupils  in 
the  methods  of  critical  thought?"  "May  I  expect  that  my  in- 
struction in  Latin  will  provide  the  learner  with  a  general  lin- 
guistic sense,  which  will  be  of  value  to  him  in  all  his  language 
courses?' ' 

While  no  final  answer  can  be  given  to  such  questions,  it  may 
be  said  that  the  advocates  of  special  subjects  of  instruction  in 
the  high  school  have  as  a  rule  made  extravagant  and  undemon- 
strated  claims  as  to  the  general  disciplinary  values  of  these  sub- 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       209 

jects.  The  teacher  should  attempt  to  find  in  any  subject  that  he 
teaches  as  many  values  as  possible  that  inhere  in  the  subject 
itself.  In  other  words,  he  should  teach  the  subject  primarily  for 
its  content  and  practical  values,  and  not  for  its  value  as  a  general 
training,  in  reasoning,  discrimination,  imagination,  or  what  not. 
However,  it  is  proper  and  desirable  at  times  to  emphasize  these 
general  values,  and  this  can  best  be  done  by  making  the  pupil 
conscious  of  them  and  eager  to  secure  them.  For  example,  a 
pupil  will  be  much  more  likely  to  carry  over  from  his  course  in 
physics  the  conception  of  the  scientific  method  to  other  fields  of 
life  and  apply  it  in  these  new  fields,  if  he  understands  what  this 
method  really  signifies  and  possesses  the  desire  to  employ  it 
whenever  it  is  possible.  Likewise  rigor  in  reasoning  that  is 
developed  in  mathematics  may  or  may  not  be  utilized  in  other 
school  subjects.  The  pupil  who  finds  such  reasoning  helpful, 
and  who  has  an  idea  of  its  general  utility,  will  be  aided  in  his 
methods  of  reasoning  in  whatever  field  he  may  find  the  need  for 
such  reasoning.  It  is  a  function  of  the  teacher  to  explain  general 
methods  and  to  create  ideals  of  work.  The  question  of  disci- 
plinary values  will  be  further  discussed  in  Chapters  XIII  and 
XVI.1 

(d)  There  are  definite  limits  to  possible  and  desired  proficiency 
in  any  given  habit  or  set  of  habits. — It  is  one  of  the  most  obvious 
facts  in  the  psychology  of  learning  that  there  are  certain  limits 
of  improvability.  Some  of  these  limits  are  set  by  the  desire 
and  ability  of  the  learner,  others  are  in  a  measure  determined 
by  the  difficulty  of  the  subject-matter,  and  still  others  are  condi- 
tioned by  practical  considerations.  To  attempt  to  drill  the 
pupil  beyond  these  possible  and  desirable  limits  of  improvability 
is  clearly  a  waste.  It  is  perfectly  obvious  that  if  a  pupil  has  no 
capacity  for  learning  a  foreign  language,  or  is  so  little  interested 
that  he  makes  no  honest  effort,  drill  can  accomplish  nothing 
valuable  for  him.  One  of  the  most  discouraging  duties  of  many 
1  See  pp.  275,  276,  338,  339. 


210  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

high  school  teachers  is  that  of  conducting  a  class  of  repeaters. 
Going  over  the  subject  a  second  time  is  as  a  rule  as  great  a 
failure  as  was  the  initial  attempt.  School  programs  should  be 
sufficiently  flexible  to  permit  a  pupil  who  has  failed  in  one 
subject  to  take  something  in  its  place  for  which  he  is  likely  to 
have  greater  ability  and  interest. 

This  problem  is  a  fairly  simple  one  as  far  as  elective  subjects  are 
concerned.  It  becomes  more  difficult  when  there  are  specific  require- 
ments. For  example,  if  a  pupil  has  definitely  failed  in  his  first  year 
of  Latin,  and  wishes  to  enter  a  college  that  requires  it,  then  he  must 
take  the  subject  over  again  if  he  is  ultimately  to  succeed;  if  his  aim 
is  to  prepare  for  a  technical  school,  then  he  must  finally  pass  in  his 
mathematics,  and  so  on.  In  cases  where  such  pupils  show  general 
ability,  and  have  a  desire  to  carry  out  their  plans,  repetition  may  at 
length  produce  results.  If  they  have  no  ability  in  general  and  little 
desire,  this  is  fair  evidence  that  they  are  not  fitted  for%the  career  that 
they  have  selected,  and  it  will  be  much  more  economical  for  them 
and  for  the  school  if  they  select  another  career  in  which  the  chances 
of  success  seem  greater. 

There  are  some  subjects,  of  which  English  is  the  most  conspicuous 
example,  with  which  all  secondary  pupils  must  have  a  reasonable 
acquaintance  whatever  their  careers  in  life  are  to  be.  If  pupils  fail 
in  such  a  subject,  are  we  not  forced  to  drill  them,  and  drill  them  again, 
never  mind  how  slight  their  capacities,  or  how  weak  their  interests? 
The  answer  to  this  question  is  not  an  easy  one,  yet  it  is  perfectly 
obvious  if  the  learner  has  reached  his  limit  of  improvement,  that  it 
is  of  no  use  to  attempt  to  go  further  with  him,  never  mind  how  de- 
sirable greater  proficiency  may  be.  If  we  are  certain  that  a  pupil 
can  make  no  further  advance  in  English,  but  can  do  something  in 
the  manual  arts,  then  no  abstract  notion  of  what  an  education  ought 
to  be  should  prevent  us  from  allowing  the  pupil  to  do  what  he  can 
do,  and  to  give  up  what  he  cannot  accomplish.  However,  we  must 
be  sure  of  our  ground  in  the  first  place  before  taking  so  radical  a  step. 
It  may  often  happen  that  a  pupil  who  fails  in  one  phase  of  a  subject 
so  complex  as  English  may  find  other  aspects  of  it  in  which  he  may  do 
better. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       211 

There  are  certain  subjects  so  difficult  for  the  high  school 
pupil  that  high  degrees  of  proficiency  should  not  be  expected. 
The  drill  should  be  conducted  in  connection  with  the  more 
simple  parts  of  the  subject,  and  the  more  difficult  materials 
reserved  until  a  later  date.  This  is  true  in  many  instances  of 
the  more  advanced  work  in  algebra  and  in  science.  The  rule 
here  should  be  to  require  that  which  can  reasonably  be  done, 
to  be  done  well,  but  not  to  expect  that  the  more  difficult  aspects 
of  the  subject  be  mastered.  Of  course,  this  mastery  may  be 
possible  with  an  excessive  amount  of  drill,  but  this  additional 
drill  would  cause  a  relative  waste  when  we  take  into  account  the 
importance  of  other  subjects  to  which  adequate  time  for  mas- 
tery should  be  given. 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  to  find  a  high  school  teacher,  particu- 
larly the  young  teacher  fresh  from  college,  demanding  an  over-refine- 
ment of  subject-matter  not  warranted  under  the  conditions.  I  re- 
member in  particular  a  class  in  French  in  which  the  teacher  spent  a 
large  amount  of  time  in  drilling  the  pupils  on  certain  difficulties  in 
idioms  that  were  hard  to  master  and  were  not  often  encountered.  In 
another  class  a  teacher  of  English  was  insisting  on  the  mastery  of 
ultra  fine  distinctions  in  the  use  of  words  which  the  pupils  could  com- 
prehend only  with  difficulty,  and  for  which  they  would  probably  never 
have  any  use  in  after  life.  In  a  third  class  a  teacher  of  history  was 
attempting  to  familiarize  his  pupils  with  the  intricacies  of  the  Athenian 
constitution,  and  making  relatively  little  progress.  Clearly  his  labor 
was  not  worth  the  pains.  The  teacher  of  every  high  school  subject 
should  attempt  to  determine  with  as  great  accuracy  as  possible 
the  parts  of  the  subject  that  can  be  mastered  by  the  pupil  of 
fair  ability  and  reasonable  industry  in  the  amount  of  time  that 
is  at  the  learner's  disposal,  and  from  such  pupils  the  teacher  should 
not  expect  more.  Of  course  it  is  not  only  possible,  but  generally 
desirable  to  require  of  the  superior  pupil  a  greater  %  attainment, 
and  to  set  relatively  low  standards  for  the  dull  and  backward. 
To  this  extent,  at  least,  should  the  teacher  allow  for  individual 
differences. 


212  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL   TEACHING 

There  are  many  subjects  in  the  curriculum  in  which  we  should 
not  expect  high  proficiency,  because  such  proficiency  is  not 
particularly  important.  It  might  be  possible  to  make  all  pupils 
expert  penmen,  but  would  it  be  worth  the  while  to  drill  them 
to  the  " saturation  point  of  efficiency"  in  a  skilful  act  of  this 
nature?  It  would  be  of  greater  service  to  most  persons  if  they 
were  given  some  practice  in  the  use  of  the  typewriter.  In  many 
high  school  subjects  the  amount  of  proficiency  required  can  be 
determined  not  by  the  subject  as  such,  or  by  any  academic 
conceptions  of  its  logical  development.  The  amount  of  skill 
that  should  be  expected  and  the  amount  of  consequent  practice 
that  should  be  demanded  must  be  fixed  by  the  practical  objec- 
tives or  aims  which  are  the  justification  for  teaching  the  subject. 

It  is  important,  for  example,  that  pupils  who  have  a  high  school 
education  should  spell  with  reasonable  accuracy,  and  for  this  reason 
drill  in  spelling  should  not  end  with  the  elementary  school.  However, 
it  is  not  desirable  that  this  drill  should  be  conducted  to  the  point  of 
turning  out  "champion  spellers."  What  we  desire  is  that  high  school 
graduates  should  spell  the  words  that  they  use  in  their  written  exer- 
cises correctly.  We  have  little  interest  in  the  question  as  to  whether 
they  can  spell  words  which  they  will  never  use  in  their  daily  work. 

Often  the  amount  of  proficiency  that  is  to  be  demanded  in  a  sub- 
ject is  determined  by  whether  it  is  taught  as  a  subject  of  general 
knowledge  and  skill,  or  as  a  semi- vocational,  or  a  vocational  subject. 
Clearly  a  higher  degree  of  skill  is  to  be  demanded  in  stenography,  if 
the  course  is  taken  as  a  purely  commercial  subject,  than  in  algebra 
that  is  pursued  for  quite  different  reasons.  If  the  pupil  in  algebra 
has  mastered  some  of  the  more  elementary  processes,  so  that  he  can 
use  them  with  reasonable  rapidity  and  accuracy,  and  has  acquired  a 
fair  conception  of  the  nature  of  the  subject,  he  has  perhaps  followed 
it  as  far  as  desirable  in  the  majority  of  instances.  If  the  pupil  in 
stenography  is  fitting  himself  to  enter  an  office  on  graduation  from  the 
high  school,  then  clearly  he  must  have  sufficient  proficiency  to  take 
ordinary  business  dictation. 

There  are  some  subjects  of  secondary  instruction  that  should  be 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       213 

carried  to  a  considerable  degree  of  proficiency  for  the  simple  reason 
that  if  this  proficiency  is  not  attained,  all  which  has  gone  before  is  of 
little  value.  It  is  probably  true  that  most  pupils  in  the  high  school 
would  get  vastly  more  out  of  a  foreign  language  if  they  would  pursue 
it  until  they  could  use  it,  either  to  speak  and  write  it  or  to  read  it. 
Such  proficiency  cannot  be  acquired,  however,  without  long  and 
intensive  practice.  For  this  reason  it  would  be  much  better  for  a 
pupil  to  take  one  foreign  language  for  four  years  (if  possible  in  a  junior 
and  senior  high  school  course  for  six)  than  to  take  two  or  three  lan- 
guages for  shorter  periods.  It  seems  a  great  pity  that  most  pupils 
who  take  foreign  languages  in  our  high  schools,  and  indeed  many  who 
continue  them  as  college  students,  get  no  real  practical  ability  in 
their  use.  The  alleged  disciplinary  and  cultural  values  that  are  sup- 
posed to  attach  themselves  to  the  study  of  these  subjects  are  so  un- 
certain and  mythical,  that  they  cannot  justify  instruction  in  them 
for  these  ends  alone. 


(e)  Drill  to  be  economical  must  be  individual  in  its  character. — 
One  of  the  greatest  wastes  in  drill  exercises  arises  from  a  lack 
of  the  recognition  of  this  principle.  Pupils  who  are  drilled 
en  masse  are  often  given  practice  when  they  have  no  need  of  it, 
and  on  the  other  hand  are  many  times  not  afforded  the  drill 
which  is  essential  to  their  progress.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons 
that  make  drill  as  a  classroom  exercise  so  difficult,  and  often 
so  worthless.  We  find  a  violation  of  this  principle  wherever  we 
turn.  If  we  adopted  and  carried  out  the  maxim, — "Drill  all 
pupils  in  terms  of  their  abilities  and  according  to  their  needs"  we 
should  inaugurate  in  our  schools  of  every  grade  something  little 
short  of  an  educational  revolution,  but  nowhere  in  our  whole 
system  of  instruction  should  we  find  it  bearing  more  beneficial 
fruits  than  in  the  field  of  high  school  education;  and  nowhere 
in  the  field  of  high  school  subjects  should  we  find  more  far-reach- 
ing consequences  than  in  that  of  the  teaching  of  English  expres- 
sion. 

Pupils  enter  the  high  school  with  greatly  varying  abilities  in 


214  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

their  use  of  written  and  spoken  English.  A  part  of  this  differ- 
ence in  ability  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  have  different  capaci- 
ties, but  in  a  great  measure  these  differences  are  caused  by  the 
training  that  they  have  received  in  the  home.  This  is  particu- 
larly true  of  spoken  English.  Those  children  that  come  from 
homes  of  culture  know  how  to  speak  correctly  because  they 
have  been  brought  up  in  an  environment  where  correct  speech 
is  the  fashion.  It  is  a  waste  of  time  to  drill  these  pupils  on  cer- 
tain forms  of  expression  that  they  have  already  mastered.  On 
the  other  hand,  many  high  school  children  have  been  surrounded 
all  of  their  lives  by  persons  who  could  not  speak  English  with 
any  degree  of  accuracy.  They  have  not  infrequently  been  reared 
in  illiterate  families.  They  need  constant  instruction  in  the 
correct  forms  of  speech,  and  unless  they  receive  such  instruction 
they  will  continue  in  all  probability  to  use  poor  English  all  of 
their  lives,  no  matter  what  their  attainments  in  general  may  be. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  pupils  who  need  intensive  drill  in  spoken 
English  cannot  be  given  this  drill  in  the  ordinary  class  period.  In  the 
first  place,  the  time  is  so  limited  that  but  a  small  amount  of  practice 
is  possible,  an  amount  that  would  not  be  of  much  value  on  the  whole. 
In  the  second  place,  the  time  taken  to  drill  these  individual  pupils, 
if  it  were  taken  during  the  class  period,  would  deprive  other  pupils 
of  the  attention  that  should  be  given  them,  and  hence  such  drill 
could  not  be  justified.  If  drill  is  to  be  given  it  should  be  provided 
for  outside  of  the  regular  recitation. 

One  of  the  chief  difficulties  that  confront  the  teacher  of  oral  Eng- 
lish expression  is  found  in  the  fact  that  outside  of  the  schoolroom 
the  pupil  who  has  incorrect  habits  of  speech  is  falling  back  into  wrong 
usage  in  conversation  with  his  playmates  and  elders.  As  was  pointed 
out  in  Chapter  IX.,  consistency  of  response  is  a  prime  essential  of 
correct  habit-formation.  The  learner  who  is  constantly  lapsing  into 
wrong  usage  can  hope  to  make  but  little  progress  in  the  direction  of 
correct  expression.  Thus  it  is  that  the  task  of  the  teacher  who  aims 
to  correct  the  oral  expression  of  those  pupils  whose  environment  out- 
side of  the  school  is  illiterate,  is  well-nigh  impossible.    He  cannot  ac« 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       215 

complish  much  more  than  to  correct  a  few  of  the  grosser  errors.  On 
the  whole,  the  best  that  can  be  done,  as  we  have  already  said,  is  to 
inspire  in  the  minds  of  his  class  the  desire  to  speak  correctly  and  to 
give  to  his  class  some  standards  by  which  correct  speech  can  be  meas- 
ured, and  then  leave  it  to  individuals  to  correct  their  own  errors 
and  to  practice  in  right  usage  until  it  becomes  for  them  second 
nature. 

The  following  incident  illustrates  the  potency  of  desire  in  correct 
habit-formation.  An  English  woman  who  came  to  this  country  as 
a  domestic,  with  rare  exceptions  spoke  good  English,  only  occasionally 
when  excited,  dropping  her  H's.  Her  employer  was  curious  to  find 
out  the  reason  for  this.  "Mary,"  he  said,  "why  is  it  that  you  so 
seldom  drop  your  H's;  the  people  you  lived  with  in  England  do,  do 
they  not?"  "They  do,  sir,"  was  the  reply,  "but  in  my  case  when 
I  was  a  girl  in  school  the  teacher  impressed  me  with  the  fact  that  it 
was  a  fine  thing  to  speak  good  English.  She  made  me  wish  to  talk 
properly,  and  after  that  I  always  corrected  myself  when  I  made  a 
mistake.    I  taught  myself  to  speak  well." 

The  fact  that  drill  should  be  largely  an  individual  matter 
suggests  the  desirability  of  having  drill  groups  that  are  distinct 
from  the  ordinary  recitation  groups.  To  these  drill  groups 
should  be  sent  pupils  who  are  below  the  standard  in  proficiency 
in  various  school  subjects.  For  example,  if  a  high  school  pupil 
is  found  by  his  teacher  to  be  deficient  in  spelling,  he  should  be 
placed  in  a  drill  section  that  is  devoted  to  this  subject,  and  he 
should  be  made  to  practice  on  the  words  that  he  has  not  mas- 
tered. Similarly,  if  he  is  behind  the  group  in  his  knowledge  of 
essential  facts  in  history,  if  he  lacks  the  required  facility  in 
translation  in  a  foreign  language,  if  he  blunders  along  in 
the  fundamental  processes  of  algebra,  he  should  be  given 
the  drill  that  will  make  it  possible  for  him  to  continue  the  sub- 
ject with  profit  to  himself  and  the  class.  No  pupil  can  do 
good  work  who  has  not  mastered  the  essential  elements  in 
the  work  that  he  has  already  taken  up.  It  is  impossible  to  do 
justice  to  a  class  as  a  whole  when  some  are  ready  to  advance 


2l6  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

rapidly  and  when  others  are  incapable  of  further  progress  be- 
cause they  have  not  done  well  the  work  that  has  gone  before. 

Drill  groups  should  be  formed  for  every  subject  in  the  high 
school  curriculum.  These  groups  should  be  supervised  by 
teachers  of  experience,  who  should  work  with  the  group  as  a 
whole  as  far  as  they  have  common  difficulties,  and  with  indi- 
viduals as  far  as  the  difficulties  are  peculiar.  For  example,  if 
a  pupil  fails  to  spell  correctly  a  certain  definite  list  of  words, 
he  should  be  given  practice  on  this  list  and  not  on  a  list  including 
words  that  he  already  knows  how  to  spell.  It  is  a  clear  waste  of 
time  to  drill  the  learner  on  something  that  does  not  need  drill. 
This  fact  leads  to  a  further  important  principle  relating  to  eco- 
nomical methods  of  drill,  namely, — that  in  order  to  attend  to 
the  individual  needs  of  pupils  careful  consideration  must  be 
given  to  the  exact  nature  of  the  pupil's  difficulties.  This  means, 
as  we  have  already  seen  in  an  earlier  part  of  our  discussion,1 
that  the  teacher  must  have  some  method  of  determining  the 
nature  and  direction  of  the  pupil's  errors. 

A  lack  of  consideration  of  the  needs  of  the  individual  in  this 
connection  results  often  in  drilling  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the 
many,  the  most  serious  source  of  waste  in  most  classroom  exer- 
cises. Likewise,  individual  oral  drill  ignores  the  needs  of  the 
group  and  centers  the  entire  activity  of  the  recitation  period 
temporarily  around  one  pupil.  In  Chapter  VIII.  the  fact  was 
emphasized  that  a  written  test  for  knowledge  is  more  eco- 
nomical than  an  oral  test.  Similarly,  a  written  drill  exercise  is 
more  economical  than  an  oral  drill  exercise.  As  a  rule,  it  is 
indefensible  to  drill  a  single  pupil  for  any  length  of  time  when 
the  rest  of  the  class  are  practically  inactive.  In  the  ordinary 
"recitation  hearing"  which  is  the  bane  of  so  much  of  our  instruc- 
tion in  the  high  school,  this  is  not  an  infrequent  practice  in 
some  form  or  other.  A  pupil  is  called  upon  to  recite.  He  makes 
some  error  and  is  corrected  perhaps  several  times  before  his 
1  See  Chapter  VIII.,  pp.  153,  154. 


THE  METHODS   OF  THE   CLASS   PERIOD  217 

performance  is  considered  satisfactory  by  the  teacher.  During 
this  interval,  the  rest  of  the  class  are  getting  nothing  out  of  the 
recitation.  If  this  process  is  continued  with  each  member  of  the 
class,  we  find  that  the  recitation  is  reduced  in  efficiency  to  such 
an  extent  that  not  ten  per  cent,  of  what  could  be  done  is  ac- 
complished. 

One  of  the  most  striking  instances  of  waste  from  this  source  that 
has  come  to  the  writer's  attention  was  that  of  a  class  in  English  con- 
ducted by  a  teacher  of  experience,  who  stated  that  his  chief  aim  in  the 
course  was  to  drill  the  pupils  in  correct  and  distinct  enunciation.  To 
this  end,  he  compelled  every  pupil  to  repeat  his  statements  until  they 
were  in  a  satisfactory  form.  The  particular  class  observed  was  read- 
ing a  play  of  Shakespeare,  but  the  insistence  of  the  teacher  on  the 
correct  expression  of  his  pupils  resulted  in  a  total  lack  of  considera- 
tion of  the  play  itself,  in  return  for  which  each  member  of  the  class 
was  given  one  and  one-half  minutes  of  drill  during  the  entire  period, 
and  obtained  little  else  worth  while  from  the  recitation. 

There  are  abundant  examples  of  the  opposite  practice,  however. 
Indeed,  teachers  at  times  go  to  the  extreme  of  ignoring  the  most 
common  errors  of  speech.  A  middle  course  is  desirable.  One  teacher 
of  English  makes  it  a  rule  to  require  those  pupils  who  habitually  use 
such  expressions  as  done  for  did,  set  for  sit,  don't  for  doesn't,  and 
them  for  those,  to  remain  after  school  and  practice  on  the  correct 
forms.  During  the  class  exercise  the  most  obvious  violations  of 
proper  usage  are  pointed  out,  but  the  pupils  making  the  errors  are 
given  drill  individually  or  in  small  groups,  and  not  at  the  expense  of 
the  class  as  a  whole. 

Formal  oral  drill  is  most  commonly  found  in  pronunciation 
exercises  in  courses  in  foreign  language  and  in  the  so-called  oral 
composition  in  English.  In  a  foreign  language,  it  seems  neces- 
sary that  the  pupil  should  be  able  to  acquire  a  reasonably  cor- 
rect pronunciation.  It  is  an  almost  hopeless  task  to  do  this, 
however,  through  individual  drill  in  the  classroom.  For  this 
reason  oral  drill  in  concert  is  often  resorted  to.    Though  this 


2l8  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

method  of  oral  drill  is  more  economical  than  individual  oral 
drill,  it  has  certain  obvious  defects,  as  has  been  pointed  out  in 
Chapter  DC.  As  a  rule  in  concert  drills,  there  are  a  few  who 
are  actively  engaged  in  the  exercise,  while  the  remainder  lag 
behind  and  follow  in  a  perfunctory  way.  Indeed,  some  merely 
make  their  lips  move,  without  actually  using  their  vocal  organs, 
and  the  practice  that  they  obtain  from  such  an  exercise  is  of 
no  value.  To  obtain  any  genuine  drill  from  an  exercise  in 
pronunciation  the  attention  of  the  learner  must  be  focused  on 
the  exercise,  and  he  must  himself  have  in  mind  the  words  and 
express  them.  Passive  imitation  is  here  of  little  avail.  Again 
in  concert  drills  the  teacher  has  no  opportunity  to  discover  in- 
dividual errors  and  to  correct  them. 

The  best  method  of  drilling  in  pronunciation  in  a  foreign  language 
is  by  the  use  of  the  phonograph.  In  the  first  place,  the  records  are 
made  by  persons  who  have  absolutely  accurate  and  distinct  speech. 
Again,  the  learner  can  repeat  any  part  of  the  record  as  many  times  as 
he  desires,  and  can  constantly  compare  his  efforts  with  the  record. 
Further,  he  can  do  this  by  himself,  and  he  is  not  so  likely  to  be  dis- 
turbed, as  if  he  were  practicing  before  his  classmates.  In  the  well- 
equipped  school  there  should  be  several  small  rooms  in  which  such 
phonographs  can  be  placed,  and  pupils  should  be  assigned  a  certain 
number  of  minutes  each  day  in  which  to  practice  correct  pronuncia- 
tion. This  should  be  considered  as  necessary  a  part  of  the  course, 
as  are  laboratory  exercises  considered  a  necessary  part  of  a  course 
in  physics  or  chemistry. 

In  recent  years  we  have  heard  a  great  deal  concerning  the 
desirability  of  oral  composition  in  courses  in  English.  It  is 
urged,  and  with  a  good  degree  of  justice,  that  the  average  in- 
dividual writes  little,  though  he  speaks  a  great  deal,  and  that  it 
is  therefore  more  important  to  train  the  pupil  in  oral  expression 
than  in  written  expression.  Some  teachers  have  devoted  a 
considerable  part  of  the  total  time  allotted  to  class  work  to 
formal  oral  exercises.    Pupils  are  assigned  topics  and  give  an 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       219 

oral  presentation  of  these  topics  in  the  class.  Doubtless  this 
sort  of  work  is  of  value  if  it  can  be  conducted  properly.  It  must 
be  remembered,  however,  that  each  pupil  can  get  but  a  small 
amount  of  practice  in  such  exercises,  and  further  that  the  class 
as  a  whole  may  get  practically  no  benefit  from  the  exercise. 

Let  us  take  an  example  in  an  extreme  form  of  the  practice  in  oral 
expression  where  the  general  waste  is  enormous.  The  class  under 
consideration  is  one  in  English  numbering  twenty-seven  members. 
The  teacher  devotes  one  hour  a  week  to  drill  in  declamation.  Each 
pupil  is  allowed  five  minutes  for  the  exercise.  Consequently  in  a 
forty-five  minute  period  a  pupil  gets  the  opportunity  to  declaim  be- 
fore the  class  once  in  three  weeks,  and  in  the  course  of  the  year  ap- 
proximately twelve  times,  possibly  thirteen.  This  gives  him  an 
hour's  practice.  This  amount  of  practice  is  cut  down,  however,  by 
the  fact  that  during  the  course  of  the  exercise  in  declamation,  time 
is  taken  for  criticism  and  correction  of  errors,  so  that  on  the  average 
not  more  than  five  pupils  declaim  during  a  single  period,  and  this 
reduces  the  total  amount  of  drill  received  by  each  pupil  to  less  than 
forty  minutes  during  the  year,  an  amount  so  small  that  little  improve- 
ment can  be  expected  under  such  conditions.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  class  as  a  whole  has  been  deprived  of  nearly  thirty  hours  of  in- 
struction, and  has  received  little  benefit  from  listening  to  the  others 
declaim.  The  only  benefit  that  the  class  has  received  is  from  such 
criticisms  of  the  various  declamations  as  are  important  for  the  class 
to  consider.  Consequently,  while  in  the  course  of  the  year,  the  class 
should  have  received  during  this  period  approximately  thirty  hours 
of  instruction,  it  has  under  the  most  favorable  conditions  received 
not  more  than  one-third  of  that  amount,  probably  even  less  in  most 
instances. 

There  are  two  conditions  under  which  formal  oral  composi- 
tions are  allowable  as  class  exercises.  One  of  these  is  when  the 
content  of  the  composition  is  something  which  is  of  value  to  the 
class  to  know,  and  which  the  class  as  a  whole  is  required  to 
utilize  in  its  work;  and  the  second  is  when  the  criticisms  that 
are  brought  out  in  regard  to  the  presentation  of  individual 


220  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

pupils  are  criticisms  of  general  value  and  are  actively  partici- 
pated in  by  the  class. 

An  illustration  of  these  conditions  in  force  in  actual  school  prac- 
tice will  make  the  underlying  principles  more  definite.  The  class 
under  consideration  is  composed  of  twenty- three  members  in  the 
senior  year  in  the  high  school.  Although  it  is  a  course  in  English  the 
teacher  chooses  the  topics  to  be  presented  mainly  from  the  field  of 
other  school  subjects.  Pupils  according  to  their  interests,  knowledge, 
and  abilities,  are  given  topics  relating  to  current  events,  community 
happenings,  important  scientific  topics  of  immediate  interest,  and 
the  like.  It  is  the  aim  of  the  instructor  to  allow  no  topic  to  be  pre- 
sented that  is  not  of  general  educational  value,  and  so  to  supervise 
the  work  of  the  pupils  that  these  topics  will  be  presented  in  a  clear 
and  comprehensible  form.  Further  than  this,  the  pupils  are  required 
to  take  notes  and  hand  in  later  a  written  statement  of  the  important 
facts  presented.  They  are  also  expected  to  consider  the  form  of  the 
presentation  and  to  criticise  it  intelligently.  In  this  way,  each  mem- 
ber of  the  class  is  kept  mentally  active  during  the  entire  period,  and 
the  attention  is  directed  toward  something  that  is  worth  while.  Thus, 
the  waste  of  individual  drill  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Such  work 
as  this  can  easily  be  done  in  various  subjects  of  the  high  school  curric- 
ulum. Indeed,  oral  and  written  expression  should  be  cultivated  prin- 
cipally in  connection  with  those  courses  in  which  the  practical  need 
for  such  expression  arises,  and  should  not  be  left  merely  as  formal 
exercises  to  be  conducted  by  the  teacher  of  English.  In  the  coopera- 
tive class,  spoken  of  at  various  times  in  the  course  of  our  discussions, 
there  is  a  splendid  opportunity  for  training  in  oral  expression.  Under 
such  conditions  there  is  a  minimum  of  waste,  and  a  maximum  of 
general  benefit. 

Maxims  of  Economical  Drill. — In  the  discussions  of  the  pres- 
ent and  of  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  considered  the  chief 
laws  of  correct  habit-formation,  and  the  main  sources  of  waste 
in  drill.  The  facts  and  principles  here  stated  and  considered 
lie  at  the  basis  of  the  economy  and  technique  of  learning  and 
of  teaching.     The  more  important  of  these  by  way  of  final 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       221 

summary  and  emphasis  may  be  stated  in  the  form  of  maxims 
of  effective  drill.    They  read  as  follows: — 

(a)  No  learning  can  take  place  without  practice,  but  mere  prac- 
tice is  not  sufficient. — The  practice  must  be  actual,  not  purely 
objective  and  formal;  it  must  be  conducted  in  such  a  way  that 
the  learner  knows  the  object  of  his  achievement,  desires  to  at- 
tain this  object,  and  knows  when  the  object  has  been  attained; 
the  object  must  be  attainable  when  effort  is  reasonably  vigorous 
and  sustained;  the  process  by  which  the  object  is  attained 
should  be  made  as  free  from  grind  as  possible;  the  learner  should 
know  sufficiently  the  details  of  the  process  to  recognize  when 
he  is  going  right  and  when  he  is  going  wrong;  in  other  words 
blind  trial  and  error  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  or  stated 
in  another  way,  practice  must  be  the  right  practice  to  produce 
results. 

(b)  The  practice,  if  it  is  right  practice,  must  be  uniform  and 
constant. — There  can  be  no  lapses  into  old  and  wrong  methods. 
In  those  school  subjects  in  which  the  practice  outside  of  the 
classroom  tends  to  differ  from  that  within,  drill  is  often  futile, 
always  unsatisfactory. 

(c)  Habits  should  be  formed  in  the  way  in  which  they  are  to 
be  used. — They  should  be  formed  both  in  the  right  direction  and 
in  the  right  connections.  The  teacher  of  language  especially 
needs  to  consider  these  facts  and  to  apply  them. 

(d)  Superfluous  habits  should  never  be  initiated  if  they  can  pos- 
sibly be  avoided,  and  if  initiated  should  be  eliminated  as  soon  as 
possible. — Roundabout  methods  of  procedure  may  at  times  be 
used  in  order  to  show  the  pupil  the  reason  for  a  certain  process, 
but  such  methods  should  never  be  practiced.  The  most  eco- 
nomical and  direct  means  of  getting  the  desired  result  should 
always  be  applied.  This  principle  is  of  particular  importance 
for  the  teachers  of  language  and  of  mathematics. 

(e)  Habits  should  be  formed  in  the  psychological  rather  than 
in  a  logical  order. — As  far  as  it  is  possible,  the  learner  should 


222  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

begin  with  those  things  that  are  most  simple,  easy,  and  interest- 
ing for  him.  The  more  complex  and  difficult  elements  should 
be  postponed  until  the  more  simple  are  mastered.  For  this 
reason  the  formal,  grammatical,  and  logical  methods  of  teach- 
ing language  are  often  a  failure. 

(f)  In  the  early  stages  of  habit-formation,  progress  should  be 
relatively  deliberate. — Haste  makes  waste.  No  learner  can  ad- 
vance to  the  more  difficult  stages  of  acquisition,  when  he  has 
not  mastered  the  initial  stages. 

(g)  Habits  formed  in  one  kind  of  activity  do  not  necessarily 
carry  over  to  another  kind  of  activity,  even  when  the  similarity  be- 
tween the  two  activities  is  pronounced. — For  this  reason  the 
teacher  who  wishes  that  a  habit  be  set  up  in  some  particular 
field  must  see  to  it  that  the  habit  is  actually  functioning  in  this 
field,  and  not  assume  that  it  does  so  function  because  a  habit 
called  by  the  same  name  has  been  acquired  in  another  field. 
For  this  reason,  too,  the  teacher  should  aim  to  practice  the 
habit  in  the  field  in  which  it  is  to  be  used. 

(h)  Not  all  habits  should  be  practiced  until  expert  skill  is 
reached. — In  most  subjects  in  the  curriculum  a  reasonable  knowl- 
edge and  a  partial  skill  are  all  that  should  be  desired  or  can  be 
achieved  without  undue  expenditure  of  time  and  of  energy.  The 
limits  of  perfection  in  any  habit  are  practical  limits. 

(i)  Drill  in  habit-formation  should  be  directed  to  the  needs  of 
the  individual. — For  this  reason  general  class  drills  are  often 
wasteful;  each  pupil  should  be  treated  according  to  his  individual 
needs. 

(j)  The  few  should  never  be  drilled  at  the  expense  of  the  many. — 
This  is  a  maxim  that  every  teacher  should  constantly  keep  in 
mind.  Its  frequent  violation  results  in  tremendous  losses  and 
reduces  the  efficiency  of  instruction  often  many  fold. 

(k)  The  teacher  must  constantly  supervise  the  initiation  and  the 
perfection  of  habit. — The  teacher  must  know  definitely  what  the 
pupil  is  doing,  where  he  is  succeeding  and  where  he  is  failing; 


THE  METHODS   OF   THE   CLASS  PERIOD  223 

the  teacher  must  direct,  encourage,  and  aid  him  constantly; 
undirected,  and  haphazard  drill  is  often  worse  than  useless. 
One  of  the  chief  functions  of  the  teacher  should  be  to  show  the 
pupil  how  to  study,  and  so  to  direct  him  that  he  forms  eco- 
nomical habits  of  study. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD — ADDING  NEW  KNOWLEDGE 
THROUGH  ORAL  AND  BOOK  INSTRUCTION 

In  the  preceding  chapters  on  the  methods  of  the  class  period, 
we  have  discussed  the  question  of  the  test  for  knowledge  in  its 
various  forms,  and  have  considered  further  the  nature,  function, 
and  limitations  of  drill.  In  the  present  chapter,  and  in  those 
immediately  following,  we  shall  take  up  the  problem  of  impart- 
ing new  knowledge  during  the  class  period,  and  shall  consider 
in  the  first  place,  oral  instruction,  or  the  "telling  method,,,  as 
it  is  sometimes  termed. 

The  Nature  of  the  Telling  Method.— The  telling  method  of 
instruction,  as  the  name  implies,  consists  in  the  imparting  of  in- 
formation orally  by  the  teacher  to  the  class.  It  ranges  from 
the  formal  lecture,  on  the  one  hand,  to  brief  bits  of  information 
and  comment,  on  the  other, — given  out  by  the  teacher  during 
the  course  of  an  ordinary  recitation.  The  formal  lecture  has 
but  a  small  place  in  the  high  school,  and  as  a  rule  should  not  be 
encouraged.  On  the  other  hand,  brief  comments  and  explana- 
tions by  the  teacher  are  extremely  common,  and  in  many  in- 
stances take  up  a  large  part  of  the  class  period.  Often  this 
latter  form  of  the  telling  method  is  as  faulty  as  the  former.  The 
lecture  method  suffers  from  the  fact  that  it  is  too  set  in  composi- 
tion and  presentation;  the  method  that  employs  comment  and 
incidental  explanation  is,  as  a  rule,  too  fragmentary  and  ill 
considered.  The  explanations  may  be  cumbersome  and  diffi- 
cult for  the  class  to  understand;  frequently  they  are  not  well 
thought  out,  and  are  at  times  related  to  no  definite  aim  or  plan 
of  instruction.    The  teacher  should  prepare  with  care  the  main 

224 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       225 

statements  that  he  is  to  make  to  the  class,  make  sure  that  they 
are  framed  in  simple  language,  and  that  they  are  reasonably 
brief  and  direct. 

Comments  and  explanations  are  generally  interspersed  with 
the  questions  asked  by  the  teacher,  or  are  of  the  nature  of  cor- 
rections and  suggestions  offered  during  the  course  of  a  recitation. 
As  a  rule  they  are  too  frequent.  In  both  questioning  and  com- 
ment many  teachers  consume  altogether  too  much  of  the  time 
of  the  class. 

The  first  detailed  study  of  the  part  that  the  teacher  takes  during 
the  ordinary  recitation  was  investigated  by  Dr.  Romiett  Stevens  * 
and  reported  in  a  monograph  in  which  stenographic  reports  of  class 
procedure  form  the  basis  of  the  discussion.  One  of  the  general  re- 
sults of  the  investigation  was  that  many  teachers  take  far  too  large  a 
part  of  the  time  of  the  class  period,  and  leave  but  a  small  part  of  it 
to  the  pupils.  Although  the  investigation  concerned  largely  instruc- 
tion in  the  form  of  questions,  numerous  examples  are  given  of  the 
comments  of  teachers  on  the  replies  of  pupils,  and  of  incidental  infor- 
mation given  out  in  a  more  or  less  haphazard  way  during  the  progress 
of  the  instruction.  A  few  examples  of  such  comments  will  serve  to 
show  the  general  nature  of  instruction  of  this  type. 

In  discussing  the  fate  of  Andre  and  the  treason  of  Arnold,  the 
teacher  is  moved  to  remark:  "Perhaps  Arnold  is  not  open  to  as  much 
criticism  there  as  you  may  think.  He  went  to  General  Clinton  and 
offered  to  surrender  himself.  When  you  consider  how  he  got  his 
command  at  West  Point,  you  will  find  there  the  worst  point  in  his 
whole  career.  He  got  the  command  from  his  best  friend  Washington; 
the  betrayal  was  not  only  a  betrayal  of  America,  but  of  his  best  friend, 
and  Washington  felt  the  disgrace  perhaps  even  more  than  Arnold 
himself."  Again:  "A  congressional  investigation  cannot  be  justified 
unless  the  charges  are  serious.  Now  the  charges  against  Arnold  in 
his  Philadelphia  career  were  of  a  petty  sort;  he  was  charged  with 
embezzling  funds  entrusted  to  him,  and  the  charge  that  he  had  used 

1  The  Question  as  a  Measure  of  Efficiency  in  Instruction,  Teachers  Col- 
lege, Columbia  University  Contributions  to  Education,  No.  48  (191 2). 


226  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

an  army  wagon  was  not  enough  to  disgrace  him  before  the  country." 
The  chief  objection  to  such  statements  as  the  above  is  not  primarily 
as  to  their  form,  or  value  as  bits  of  information.  A  few  statements 
like  these,  well  phrased,  and  made  with  deliberation  at  important 
points  in  the  progress  of  the  recitation  are  helpful.  When  a  large 
number  of  such  statements,  however,  are  found,  as  appears  to  have 
been  the  case  in  this  particular  recitation  in  American  history,  they 
are  presented  in  such  a  hurried  and  ill-considered  manner  that  they 
make  practically  no  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  pupil,  and  are 
consequently  a  great  source  of  waste. 

A  serious  waste  in  class  instruction  is  found  in  the  rambling 
comment  of  the  instructor.  An  idea  or  a  fact  is  suggested,  which 
the  teacher  takes  up  and  develops  without  particular  thought 
as  to  where  it  is  leading,  or  as  to  its  general  bearing  on  the  lesson 
as  a  whole.  The  following  illustration  will  serve  to  point  out 
the  defect  in  such  a  procedure: 

In  a  class  in  Roman  history  the  question  of  representative  govern- 
ment was  raised.  The  teacher  first  explained  what  representative 
government  meant,  and  for  this  there  was  ample  justification,  but 
he  was  not  satisfied  to  make  his  point,  and  next  discussed  representa- 
tion in  the  House  and  Senate  in  the  government  of  the  United  States; 
this  was  followed  by  a  statement  of  how  the  representatives  are 
chosen,  and  of  the"  number  of  states  in  the  Union.  This  comment 
concluded  with  an  inquiry  as  to  what  state  was  last  admitted  into 
the  Union.  The  whole  procedure  occupied  five  minutes,  and  the  last 
three  topics  had  no  significant  relation  to  the  question  that  started 
the  discussion. 

While  rambling  discussions  of  this  type  are  not  infrequent  they 
are  surely  not  the  rule.  The  writer  has  observed  many  classes  in 
which  the  teacher  with  great  care  and  skill  has  held  the  discussion  to 
the  main  issue,  and  has  refused  to  be  sidetracked,  by  any  irrelevant 
consideration,  no  matter  how  interesting  or  important  in  itself. 
Teachers  are  aided  in  avoiding  rambling  and  discursive  presentation 
by  prescribing  definite  time  limits  to  the  various  parts  of  the  lesson. 


THE   METHODS   OF   THE   CLASS   PERIOD  227 

Such  an  allotment  of  time  is  an  important  function  of  the  lesson  plan, 
discussed  in  Chapter  XVI. 

Faults  of  the  Telling  Method. — In  addition  to  the  fault  of 
superfluous,  hasty,  rambling,  and  poorly  thought-out  oral  in- 
struction discussed  in  the  preceding  paragraphs,  there  are  cer- 
tain disadvantages  in  the  telling  method  as  such,  defects  that 
inhere  in  it  whether  the  form  in  which  it  is  cast  is  correct  or  not, 
and  whether  the  information  is  worth  while  and  pertinent 
or  the  opposite.    The  chief  of  these  defects  are: — 

(a)  The  telling  method  is  time-consuming. — It  is  clear  that  no 
advantage  is  gained  and  much  time  is  lost  during  the  class 
period  when  the  pupil  is  given  extended  information  which 
he  can  easily  find  in  books,  and  readily  comprehend.  Although 
the  telling  method  should  supplement  book  instruction,  adding 
to  and  making  clear  what  the  printed  page  contains,  it  should 
never  be  a  mere  repetition  of  the  book. 

This  rule  should  not  be  carried  to  the  extreme,  however,  of  always 
compelling  the  pupil  to  look  up  in  books  something  that  may  be  told 
to  him  in  a  few  direct  words  by  the  teacher.  It  is  a  common  fault 
of  instructors  in  English  to  send  pupils  to  dictionaries  and  lexicons  to 
look  up  and  explain  words,  phrases,  and  allusions.  At  times  teachers 
require  as  a  part  of  the  preparation  of  the  daily  Jesson  the  writing 
out  of  the  derivation  and  meaning  of  a  list  of  English  words.  This 
procedure  is  justified  when  it  saves  the  pupil  and  the  class  an  appre- 
ciable amount  of  time,  when  a  greater  impression  is  made  on  the 
mind  of  the  pupil  than  would  be  made  if  the  facts  were  told  him,  or 
when  it  is  the  desire  to  give  the  pupil  experience  in  the  use  of  a  dic- 
tionary or  a  lexicon.  The  practice  of  telling  the  pupil  to  look  up  an 
interesting  point  that  has  been  raised  in  the  class  is  generally  not  to 
be  defended.  It  is  a  decided  advantage  to  furnish  the  information 
when  it  is  desired.  If  this  is  postponed,  the  value  of  the  fact  and  its 
bearing  is  often  entirely  lost. 

The  writer  has  in  mind  an  unusually  successful  teacher  of  English 
who  made  it  a  custom  to  provide  the  class  during  the  assignment 


228  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

with  the  most  essential  facts  required  in  the  preparation  of  the  new 
lesson.  She  passed  out  mimeographed  sheets  that  gave  information 
on  difficult  points  and  explanations  of  obscure  passages.  The  teacher 
estimated  that  this  method  saved  on  the  average  twenty-five  minutes 
of  the  time  of  each  pupil  in  the  preparation  of  the  assigned  lesson. 
This  time  was  employed  to  advantage  in  other  ways. 

(b)  The  telling  method  often  gives  the  teacher  a  false  idea  of  his 
skill  in  class  instruction. — If  an  instructor's  manner  of  speaking 
is  vital  and  agreeable,  he  generally  receives  apparent  attention. 
He  therefore  gets  the  idea  that  he  is  doing  well  with  his  class. 
The  real  test  of  teaching  ability  is  found  when  the  teacher  at- 
tempts to  direct  his  pupils  and  develop  in  them  the  powers  of 
initiative  and  response.  It  is  a  simple  matter  to  tell  a  class  a 
fact  or  to  explain  to  them  some  principle.  It  is  a  vastly  dif- 
ferent matter  to  make  them  comprehend  it. 

(c)  The  telling  method  lacks  a  permanent  record. — One  of  the 
chief  advantages  of  the  printed  word  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
ideas  expressed  are  permanently  preserved,  and  can  be  con- 
tinually referred  to  for  verification.  The  pupil  who  does  not 
understand  the  meaning  of  his  text  on  the  first  reading,  can 
read  the  difficult  parts  over  and  over  until  the  meaning  is  clear. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  hearer  must  comprehend  the  spoken 
word  at  once  or  else  miss  its  meaning.  Further,  as  his  memory 
fades  there  is  no  chance  for  reference  and  verification.  For 
this  reason,  teachers  who  present  topics  in  oral  form  should, 
when  possible,  furnish  a  printed  or  mimeographed  outline  of 
the  important  points,  or  require  the  pupils  to  take  notes  as  to 
what  has  been  said. 

The  Technique  of  Note-taking  is  Extremely  Important. — 
As  a  rule,  pupils  of  the  high  school  grade  have  little  idea  how 
to  take  notes,  and  indeed  college  students  are  generally  deficient 
in  this  aspect  of  their  work.  Note-taking  is  important  for  two 
main  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  through  the  notes  the  hearer 
has  preserved  in  a  permanent  form  that  information  that  has 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       229 

been  given  him  orally,  and  in  the  second  place  through  the 
exercise  in  taking  and  arranging  his  notes  he  has  reacted  to  the 
oral  lesson.  This  second  phase  of  the  note-taking  activity  gives 
it  its  chief  value.  So  important  is  the  matter  of  taking  notes 
that  we  can  with  advantage  consider  the  most  essential  prin- 
ciples involved  in  this  form  of  instruction. 

(a)  Notes  should  not  be  taken  in  the  form  of  dictation. — As  has 
been  pointed  out  in  the  chapter  on  Waste  in  the  Classroom, 
the  verbatim  taking  of  notes  is  extremely  wasteful,  and  cannot 
be  justified  as  an  ordinary  method  of  class  instruction. 

(b)  The  pupil  should  not  be  required  to  take  voluminous  notes. — 
Akin  to  the  fault  of  requiring  the  pupil  to  take  down  the  spoken 
words  of  the  lecturer  verbatim  is  that  of  expecting  him  to  take 
down  detailed  and  extended  excerpts  of  what  he  hears.  If  this 
is  required  the  pupil  is  busy  for  the  entire  period  of  the  exercise 
in  the  mere  technique  of  note-taking,  and  consequently  has  no 
opportunity  to  give  attentive  consideration  to  what  the  speaker 
is  saying,  or  to  weigh  the  relative  importance  of  the  matters 
discussed.    Hence,  the  chief  value  of  the  oral  lesson  is  lost. 

(c)  The  pupil  should  be  required  to  jot  down  the  main  facts  of 
the  lecture  or  discussion,  and  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  recitation 
write  out  in  proper  form  these  facts. — It  is  important  to  accustom 
the  pupil  to  the  practice  of  giving  careful  attention  to  class  dis- 
cussions, and  to  the  words  of  the  teacher,  and  to  make  brief 
notes  of  the  important  facts  brought  out.  These  should  be 
written  up  in  proper  form  in  a  note-book  immediately  after  the 
class  exercise,  and  should  be  inspected  and  corrected  by  the 
teacher.  This  exercise  can  to  advantage  be  made  a  part  of 
the  regular  work  in  English  composition.  Under  such  condi- 
tions the  taking  of  notes  may  be  very  valuable  exercise. 

Such  an  exercise  serves  several  important  ends.  As  has  al- 
ready been  said,  it  may  furnish  excellent  training  in  English 
expression.  Further,  it  demands  attention  during  the  class 
period  on  the  part  of  the  pupil;  it  requires  discrimination  in 


230  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

selection  of  materials  and  in  their  arrangement,  and  it  impresses 
the  facts  recorded  in  a  way  that  is  likely  to  secure  permanence. 
Of  course  the  chief  objection  to  such  procedure  is  the  amount  of 
time  consumed  by  the  teacher  in  inspecting  and  correcting  the 
notes.  Consequently  this  form  of  instruction  can  be  used  only 
in  a  limited  degree. 

Advantages  of  the  Telling  Method  of  Instruction. — 
(a)  It  tends  to  secure  and  hold  the  attention. — Oral  instruction  is 
the  most  primitive  form  of  teaching.  It  makes  an  appeal  to  the 
hearer  under  proper  conditions,  since  it  is  personal  and  vital. 
Instruction  through  books  suffers  in  these  particulars.  It  lacks 
the  emphasis  and  the  human  appeal  that  belong  to  the  spoken 
word.  However,  the  teacher  who  secures  these  advantages  in- 
herent in  the  best  forms  of  oral  instruction  must  possess  a 
voice  of  good  quality  and  the  ability  to  use  it  well.  He  must 
first  of  all  speak  clearly,  pronouncing  his  words  distinctly  and 
with  sufficient  force  to  be  easily  heard  in  all  parts  of  the  room. 
His  voice  must  be  well  modulated;  it  must  vary  in  intensity, 
and  in  pitch;  it  must  be  vital  and  sympathetic  in  tone,  and  it 
must  possess  the  various  shades  of  inflection  necessary  to  bring 
out  meanings.  The  proper  use  of  the  voice  is  a  fine  art  that 
every  teacher  should  cultivate.  We  have  seen  in  our  discussions 
concerning  discipline  that  the  voice  of  the  teacher  is  an  impor- 
tant factor  in  class  control.  It  is  equally  important  in  in- 
struction. 

The  writer  has  made  a  rough  classification  of  the  most  common 
speech  defects  observed  in  the  class  work  of  one  hundred  different 
high  school  teachers.  Arranged  in  the  order  of  their  most  frequent  oc- 
currence they  are  as  follows: — Unnecessarily  loud  speech;  lack  of  em- 
phasis in  bringing  out  meanings;  listless  speech  (frequently  accom- 
panied by  lack  of  bodily  vitality) ;  monotony  in  pitch,  inflection,  and 
intensity;  low  speech,  indistinct  speech,  particularly  dropping  the 
voice  at  the  end  of  a  sentence,  and  in  some  instances  leaving  the 
sentence  incomplete;  high  pitch;  irritating  speech,  such  as  a  nasal 


THE   METHODS   OF  THE   CLASS  PERIOD  23 1 

quality,  a  masculine  quality  in  the  case  of  women,  or  a  feminine 
quality  in  the  case  of  men.  Classifying  these  hundred  teachers  ac- 
cording to  five  grades  of  excellence,  the  writer  obtained  these  results: 
— Very  poor,  4;  poor,  ax;  medium,  42;  good,  25;  excellent,  8.  Of 
twenty  teachers  of  English  observed,  seven  were  distinctly  poor 
readers  and  only  three  superior  readers.  The  ability  to  read  well 
should  be  an  absolute  requirement  for  a  teacher  of  English  literature, 
since  a  large  part  of  instruction  in  appreciation  depends  on  this 
ability. 

(b)  It  is  directly  adaptable  to  the  immediate  needs  of  the  class. — 
One  of  the  greatest  disadvantages  of  instruction  through  books 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  it  cannot  be  planned  primarily  for  the 
needs  of  a  class  and  never  for  the  needs  of  individuals.  Many  of 
the  text-books  and  reference  books  used  in  the  high  school  are 
written  by  teachers  in  colleges  and  universities.  These  books 
too  frequently  over-emphasize  the  logical  presentation  of  the 
subject-matter;  they  too  frequently  give  entire  attention  to  the 
presentation  of  the  subject-matter  from  the  sole  standpoint  of 
content;  they  too  frequently  ignore  the  capacities,  the  develop- 
ment, and  the  interests  of  the  pupil.  Fortunately  in  recent 
years  teachers  of  high  school  subjects  have  furnished  in  increas- 
ing numbers  text-books  in  their  particular  fields  of  instruction, 
and  teachers  in  colleges,  higher  technical  schools,  and  universi- 
ties in  writing  for  pupils  of  high  school  grade  have  considered 
more  definitely  than  formerly  the  value  of  writing  in  such  a  way 
as  to  appeal  to  the  learner  and  to  satisfy  his  needs.  However, 
even  under  the  most  ideal  conditions  the  text-book  and  the 
reference  book  will  often  fail  to  meet  the  specific  wants  of 
individual  classes  in  all  particulars.  For  this  reason  text-book 
instruction  must  be  frequently  supplemented  by  oral  instruc- 
tion. Indeed  in  some  courses  the  teacher  is  obliged  to  make 
his  own  book,  if  he  hopes  to  secure  desirable  results. 

This  is  particularly  true  or  instruction  in  some  of  the  subjects  more 
recently  added  to  the  high  school  curriculum.    As  yet  the  field  of 


232  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

general  science  has  not  been  sufficiently  marked  out  and  the  methods 
by  which  it  should  be  presented  determined,  and  as  a  consequence 
there  are  a  number  of  texts  written  from  different  points  of  view. 
In  many  instances  these  do  not  meet  the  needs  of  pupils  in  these 
courses  adequately.  The  same  is  true  in  regard  to  instruction  in 
high  school  agriculture.  Further,  some  of  the  older  subjects,  such 
as  civics,  biology,  and  geography  can  best  be  taught  in  terms  of  local 
conditions,  and  here  a  text  should  be  used  as  an  aid  but  not  as  the 
chief  means  of  instruction.  The  best  teaching  in  these  subjects  is 
generally  found  in  those  instances  in  which  the  teacher  organizes  the 
work  himself.  Some  of  this  organization  may  well  be  in  the  form  of 
printed  or  mimeographed  outlines  and  instructions,  but  much  must 
be  explained  orally  to  the  pupils.  In  any  event  the  work  must  be 
supplemented  by  explanations  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  and  by 
general  discussions  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  and  the  class. 

(c)  //  supplies  the  class  with  information  that  is  more  special 
and  recent  than  that  offered  in  the  book. — Text-books,  however 
comprehensive  and  accurate,  soon  get  out  of  date,  particularly 
in  the  fields  of  physical  and  social  science.  Constantly  new 
discoveries  are  being  made,  and  new  points  of  view  being  ad- 
vanced. Further  than  this,  methods  of  presentation  and  in- 
struction may  change  in  the  treatment  of  various  courses  in 
the  curriculum,  so  that  in  this  way  a  book  although  adequate 
and  accurate  in  regard  to  subject-matter,  may  be  out  of  date. 
Not  only  may  the  text  be  in  part  or  as  a  whole  out  of  date,  for 
the  reasons  above  stated,  it  may  also  be  insufficient  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  special  interests  or  needs  of  the  school  and 
the  community.  This  is  generally  true  of  the  applied  aspects 
of  science.  Texts  in  physics  and  chemistry,  for  example,  can- 
not take  account  of  the  vocational  possibilities  of  particular 
localities.  They  must  be  written  from  a  general  point  of  view. 
In  a  community  where  there  are  important  dyeing  and  bleach- 
ing industries,  evidently  the  emphasis  in  chemistry  should  be 
different  than  in  those  communities  in  which  the  activities  are 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       233 

largely  agricultural;  in  a  coast  town  or  city,  biology  might  be 
taught  with  quite  different  materials  than  those  used  in  an 
inland  locality. 

The  Capable  High  School  Teacher  must  be  Superior  to 
any  Single  Book  or  any  Collection  of  Books. — For  the  various 
reasons  presented  in  the  preceding  topic,  it  may  be  seen  that 
no  teacher  can  afford  to  be  a  slave  to  any  one  book  or  collection 
of  books.  The  text-book  and  the  reference  book  have  a  place 
and  an  important  place  in  all  grades  of  high  school  instruction, 
but  they  should  never  be  the  sole  means,  seldom  the  chief  means, 
by  which  pupils  acquire  knowledge,  and  advance  in  skill.  In 
America  more  than  in  European  countries  the  teacher  relies 
on  the  book  as  the  chief  source  of  imparting  information  to  his 
class.  The  reasons  for  this  dependence  on  the  book  arise  chiefly 
from  three  main  causes,  causes  that  every  ambitious  teacher 
of  high  school  grade  should  seek  to  remove.  These  causes 
are: — 

(a)  Many  of  our  teachers  lack  initiative. — In  our  earlier 
discussions  of  the  preparation  of  the  secondary  school  teacher, 
we  emphasized  the  fact  that  in  Germany  and  in  France 
the  training  and  preparation  required  for  a  teacher  in  a 
gymnasium,  a  lysee,  or  communal  college  is  much  more  extensive 
and  rigorous  than  that  required  for  a  teacher  in  our  public  or  pri- 
vate high  schools.  As  result  of  this  more  exacting  preparation  in 
Europe  than  in  America  a  superior  set  of  teachers  is  secured. 
One  of  the  qualities  of  superiority,  perhaps  the  most  important 
quality,  is  initiative.  The  average  secondary  teacher  in  Europe 
succeeds  better  in  planning  and  doing  than  does  the  average 
teacher  of  high  school  grade  in  America. 

(b)  American  teachers  have  not  been  so  trained  in  the  presenta- 
tion of  subject-matter  as  to  be  able  to  do  this  on  their  own  initiative. — 
A  careful  preparation  in  the  technique  and  the  principles  of 
teaching  is  necessary  in  order  to  train  the  teacher  in  resourceful- 
ness of  presentation.    Such  preparation  we  have  seen  is  lacking 


234  INTRODUCTION   TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

in  the  case  of  many  of  our  high  school  teachers.  However,  as 
the  years  go  by  the  necessity  of  such  a  preparation  will  be  more 
and  more  apparent.  As  it  is  at  present,  the  opportunities  now 
offered  for  the  higher  training  of  teachers  in  America  are  so 
extensive  and  numerous  that  the  ambitious  individual  need 
rarely  fail  from  a  lack  of  such  preparation. 

(c)  Many  teachers  do  not  have  sufficient  familiarity  with  the 
subject-matter  in  which  they  give  instruction  to  be  able  to  add  ma- 
terially to  the  information  given  in  books. — In  scholarship,  as  we 
pointed  out  earlier  in  our  discussion,  the  American  high  school 
teacher  is  often  deficient.  It  is  impossible  for  a  teacher  who 
does  not  know  the  advanced  phases  of  his  subject  to  do  much 
more  than  follow  a  book.  On  the  other  hand,  the  teacher  who 
has  any  field  of  thought  and  research  within  his  grasp,  can  give 
to  his  class  much  more  than  any  text-book  can  possibly  furnish. 
Further,  the  fact  that  the  teacher  is  a  scholar  will  change  his 
whole  attitude  toward  the  subject  that  he  is  teaching,  and  will 
react  favorably  on  his  attitude  toward  the  class  and  the  atti- 
tude of  the  class  toward  him.  In  this  connection  it  should  again 
be  emphasized,  that  in  recent  years  there  has  been  marked  im- 
provement in  the  training  of  the  high  school  teacher,  and  as 
a  result  young  men  and  women  of  greater  ability,  skill,  and 
knowledge  are  in  ever  increasing  numbers  entering  the  field  of 
secondary  instruction. 

Text-book  Instruction. — In  the  above  discussion  of  oral 
instruction,  we  have  from  time  to  time  contrasted  it  with  in- 
struction through  the  medium  of  books,  and  have  pointed  out 
some  of  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  that  are  to  be  found 
in  obtaining  information  from  the  printed  page.  We  have  seen 
that  the  book  has  the  advantage  of  presenting  in  a  permanent 
and  readily  accessible  form  information  that  is  important  for 
the  pupil  to  obtain;  that  this  information  is  as  a  rule  reasonably 
accurate,  and  that  it  can  be  secured,  if  books  are  properly 
used,  in  a  relatively  brief  space  of  time.    On  the  other  hand 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       235 

books  are  often  so  constructed  both  in  respect  to  subject-matter 
and  to  form  that  they  are  not  suited  to  the  needs  of  particular 
classes  and  individual  pupils.  Also  they  lack  the  interest  that 
oral  instruction  with  its  emphasis  on  the  personal  element  pos- 
sesses when  such  instruction  is  properly  given;  and  they 
are  often  over-logical,  and  give  too  little  heed  to  the  interests 
and  abilities  of  the  pupil.  Bagley  1  points  out  additional  diffi- 
culties in  the  use  of  text-books.  He  says,  "The  pupil  must  have 
some  motive  for  attacking  the  printed  page,  or  some  interest  in 
its  contents,  if  he  is  to  give  it  the  attention  that  is  necessary  for 
the  assimilation  of  the  matter  presented.  .  .  .  The  text-book 
may  employ  terms  the  meanings  of  which  are  not  familiar  to 
the  pupils.  ...  It  may  present  matter  for  the  apperception 
of  which  the  pupil  lacks  an  adequate  basis  of  fact.  .  .  .  Even 
if  these  conditions  are  not  operative,  the  reading  of  the  text  will 
not  hold  attention  so  well  as  would  oral  presentation  of  the 
same  matter." 

Text-books  should  be  Considered  merely  as  Aids  in 
Teaching;  not  as  Substitutes  for  Teaching.— From  the  above 
discussion  it  is  apparent  that  text-books  are  necessary  tools  of 
instruction,  but  that  they  must  be  considered  as  supplementary 
to  instruction  rather  than  as  the  sole  or  chief  means  of  impart- 
ing knowledge.  As  has  often  been  pointed  out  in  these  pages, 
one  of  the  common  criticisms  of  high  school  instruction  is  that 
it  consists  largely  of  lesson  hearing,  that  is, — in  requiring  pupils 
to  recite  on  materials  that  they  have  memorized  from  texts 
and  manuals  outside  of  the  classroom,  and  often  with  no  direc- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  The  teacher  must  prepare  the 
pupil  to  study  the  text  intelligently  and  economically.  This  is 
ordinarily  done  through  the  assignment.  Unfortunately  the 
assignment,  which  is  the  very  core  of  successful  instruction,  is 
frequently  ignored,  or  grossly  slighted  by  many  teachers. 

1  Classroom  Management  (1907),  p.  191. 


236  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

The  Essentials  of  a  Proper  Assignment. — In  order  that  the 
assignment  may  perform  its  proper  function,  the  teacher  must 
keep  constantly  before  him  certain  basal  principles. 

(a)  The  teacher  must  know  the  book  thoroughly,  and  evaluate  it 
in  terms  of  the  needs  of  the  class. — High  school  teachers  some- 
times, when  assigned  a  subject  with  which  they  have  little 
familiarity,  aim  merely  to  "keep  just  ahead  of  the  class." 
Clearly  such  teaching  can  bring  only  the  most  mediocre  results. 
While  the  teacher  should  have  a  much  wider  familiarity  with 
a  subject  than  the  information  given  in  any  one  book,  the  least 
that  should  be  demanded  is  that  he  know  thoroughly  the  text- 
book that  the  class  is  using. 

Parker  l  in  discussing  this  requisite  for  an  effective  assign- 
ment, says, — "After  a  text-book  is  adopted,  the  teacher  should 
study  it  thoroughly  in  order  to  use  it  intelligently.  Some  books 
do  not  involve  any  necessary  order  in  the  study  of  the  chapters 
which  they  contain.  In  such  cases  any  order  which  the  teacher 
may  devise  might  prove  satisfactory.  In  other  books,  how- 
ever, little  departure  should  be  made  from  the  regular  order 
of  the  chapters."  Again  he  writes,  quoting  Thorndike, — "  Many 
of  the  evils  attributed  to  the  overuse  of  text-books  are  really 
due  to  misunderstanding  and  misuse  of  them.  In  the  case  of  a 
good  text-book  there  is  a  reason  for  every  item  and  for  its  posi- 
tion in  the  whole.  Too  often  a  teacher  uses  a  section  of  a  book 
much  as  a  savage  might  use  a  coat  to  cover  his  legs,  or  as  a 
child  uses  a  saw  to  cut  a  string,  scissors  to  cut  a  board,  and  a 
padlock  as  a  bracelet." 

(b)  When  the  teacher  has  an  adequate  understanding  of  the  text 
that  he  is  teaching,  he  must  then  decide  on  the  proper  emphasis  to 
be  given  to  the  various  topics  that  it  contains. — Clearly  not  all 
items  are  of  equal  importance,  even  when  considered  objec- 
tively; and  when  these  are  considered  in  terms  of  the  interests, 
capacities,  and  comprehension  of  the  class  there  are  some  that 

1  Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools  (191 1),  p.  422. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       237 

need  to  be  made  extremely  emphatic,  while  others  may  be 
passed  over  with  but  slight  attention.  McMurry  1  urges  that 
the  text-book  be  made  use  of  largely  as  a  summary,  an  aid  to 
review,  a  convenient  outline  and  a  help  to  the  memory.  The 
teacher  must  re-arrange  the  materials  in  the  text-book  by  cull- 
ing out  the  more  important  truths,  and  bringing  the  secondary 
and  minor  facts  into  relation  with  these.  He  should  omit  some 
details  and  add  others. 

It  not  infrequently  happens  in  certain  subjects  of  instruction  that 
the  teacher  attempts  to  emphasize  practically  all  the  topics  of  the 
text  equally.  This  is  often  true  of  the  teacher  of  history,  who  is  un- 
willing to  omit  any  detail  that  the  writer  of  the  book  has  thought 
proper  to  elaborate.  In  the  average  text  in  this  subject,  however, 
there  are  many  facts  of  so  little  general  importance  in  themselves 
that  it  is  not  proper  to  require  the  pupil  to  master  them.  There  are 
other  facts  that  are  important  when  considered  from  the  general 
point  of  view  of  the  development  of  a  people,  but  so  remote  from  the 
pupils'  interest  and  so  difficult  for  them  to  comprehend,  that  the 
teacher  is  not  justified  in  dwelling  upon  these  facts.  For  example, 
the  average  high  school  pupil  can  get  very  little  from  a  discussion 
of  the  development  of  the  Athenian  constitution  or  the  growth  of 
the  English  system  of  law.  Is  it  wise  under  such  conditions  to  at- 
tempt elaborate  expositions  of  such  topics,  however  important  they 
may  be  in  themselves? 

(c)  The  teacher  should  give  adequate  time  during  the  recitation 
to  the  assignment. — Too  frequently  the  teacher  leaves  the  "giv- 
ing out"  of  the  next  day's  lesson  to  the  last  moment,  and  then 
in  a  few  hurried  words  tells  the  class  what  they  are  to  prepare. 

Miss  Stevens  in  her  discussion  of  the  question  in  class  instruction 
furnishes  several  instances  of  typical  assignments  given  hurriedly 
at  the  end  of  the  hour.  An  example  taken  from  a  class  in  English 
is  as  follows, — "I  want  to  announce  the  work  for  the  next  time,  and 
I  want  to  hand  back  to  you  the  themes  I  have  corrected,  and  I  shall 

1  Method  of  the  Recitation,  Chapter  XIII. 


238  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

ask  you  to  bring  them  next  time,  so  that  we  may  enter  our  misspelled 
words  in  our  books.  The  work  for  the  next  time  is  to  take  a  portion 
of  the  chapter  on  Bryant,  read  as  far,  please,  in  that  chapter,  as  the 
discussion  of  American  literature  at  the  time  Bryant  wrote,  on  page 
176;  that  covers  practically  the  whole  of  Bryant's  life,  and  leave  for 
another  time  only  the  discussion  of  Bryant  as  a  writer."  Clearly 
this  is  not  an  assignment  in  the  sense  of  an  attempt  to  prepare  the 
class  for  studying  the  next  lesson.  It  is  merely  a  set  of  hurried  and 
poorly  phrased  directions.  Less  detailed  and  more  hastily  given 
out  than  this,  as  poor  as  it  is,  are  the  following, — "Next  day's  lesson: 
Fifth  Canto  finished;  read  the  Sixth.  I  want  to  see  if  the  next  time 
you  can  tell  me  what  particular  task  Scott  set  himself  when  he  wrote 
this  story,  etc."  "I  want  everyone  by  Monday  to  have  purchased  a 
copy  of  Silas  Marner.  .  .  .  For  tomorrow  prepare  the  grammar  on 
page  — ." 

In  a  few  instances  attempts  were  made  in  the  assignments  quoted 
by  Miss  Stevens  to  do  more  than  merely  to  give  directions.  In  these 
instances  the  teacher  used  the  assignment  as  an  aid  to  the  pupil  in 
the  preparation  for  his  work  of  the  next  recitation.  However,  such 
assignments  seem  to  have  been  infrequent  and  woefully  brief.  A 
teacher  of  history  concludes  the  recitation  as  follows, — "I  am  going 
to  ask  you  this  question  for  you  to  think  over  and  tell  me  tomorrow: 
You  said  that  no  matter  how  large  a  state  was,  whether  large  or 
small,  whether  it  had  one  thousand  or  millions  in  it,  each  state  should 
have  two  men  in  the  Senate,  but  it  is  according  to  the  population  in 
the  House.  Which  do  you  think  is  the  fairer,  to  have  the  representa- 
tion according  to  population  or  according  to  the  number  of  states?" 
In  a  similar  way  an  English  teacher  ends  the  day's  recitation, — "The 
next  time,  in  finishing  this  poem  consider  Lancelot,  whether  he  is  an 
out  and  out  scoundrel,  or  whether  he  is  noble  and  manly  in  heart." 
The  slight  merit  that  these  last  two  assignments  possess  lies  in  the 
fact  that  they  are  intended  to  stimulate  the  thought  of  the  pupil  in 
the  preparation  of  his  next  lesson.  That  they  are  fragmentary  and 
inadequate  is  clearly  evident. 

The  writer  has  noted  down  the  character  of  the  assignments  in  two 
hundred  high  school  classes  visited  by  him.  In  one  hundred  and  two 
of  these  classes  there  was  no  assignment  in  any  other  sense  than  that 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       239 

of  giving  brief  directions  as  to  the  work  to  be  taken  up  for  the  next 
lesson.  In  ninety-three  cases  the  assignment  consisted  of  a  statement 
such  as  this, — "Take  the  next  six  pages  for  to-morrow's  lesson." 
In  ninety-eight  cases  some  attempt  was  made  to  direct  the  pupil  in 
the  preparation  of  the  following  lesson,  but  in  only  twelve  of  these 
were  more  than  ten  minutes  devoted  to  the  work.  In  one  lesson  in 
history  half  an  hour  was  given  to  working  on  the  coming  lesson.  This, 
however,  was  an  extreme  case. 

It  seems  probable  from  the  facts  discussed  above  that  serious 
attempts  at  assigning  lessons  are  exceptions  in  high  school 
instruction.  The  assignment  is  slighted  in  the  majority  of 
cases,  and  is  not  made  a  teaching  opportunity.  While  no  general 
rule  of  procedure  can  be  laid  down,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the 
average  high  school  class  from  one-quarter  to  one-third  of  the 
time  of  the  recitation  should  be  given  over  to  the  work  of  pre- 
paring the  pupils  for  the  new  materials  that  they  are  to  take  up. 
No  teacher  who  contents  himself  with  giving  a  few  brief  and 
generally  ill-considered  instructions  in  regard  to  the  advanced 
work  to  be  taken  up  by  the  class  is  teaching  his  subject  to  the 
best  of  his  ability. 

(d)  In  the  assignment  the  teacher  should  make  his  instructions 
so  definite  that  they  shall  be  unmistakably  understood. — He  should 
not  be  satisfied  to  frame  his  statements  merely  so  that  the  at- 
tentive pupil  of  reasonable  intelligence  may  understand.  He 
must,  if  it  be  possible,  compel  all  but  the  dullest  to  comprehend 
what  is  meant.  Teachers  are  often  surprised  to  find  how  poorly 
they  are  understood  and  how  inadequately  their  directions  are 
followed.  They  generally  blame  the  pupils,  and  with  a  certain 
degree  of  justice.  However,  observations  concerning  the  stu- 
pidity and  carelessness  of  the  boys  and  girls  under  their  charge 
will  not  remedy  matters.  No  teacher  who  contents  himself 
with  hurried  and  poorly  devised  instructions  given  out  at  the 
end  of  the  hour  can  expect  to  have  these  instructions  compre- 
hended, and  acted  on  by  any  large  number  of  his  class. 


240  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

The  dullness  of  some  pupils  in  understanding  the  assignment  is 
illustrated  by  the  following  composition  written  in  response  to  the 
directions  of  the  teacher  to  compose  a  theme  in  description  so  worded 
that  the  reader  could  "feel  the  picture."  In  the  theme  the  words 
feel  the  picture  were  literally  interpreted  with  the  following  astonish- 
ing result: — "There  is  a  banister  along  the  wall  up  as  far  as  the  attic, 
and  follow  this  all  the  way  up.  Then  feel  along  the  wall  and  you  will 
find  a  door.  Qpen^^is^door.  Then  walk  around  the  room.  Feel 
along  the  walfear  a  picture  which  is  just  about  the  height  of  your 
head.    Then  come  down  the  way  which  you  came  up." 

(e)  In  the  assignment  the  teacher  should  attempt  t&  clear  up 
those  points  concerning  which  there  is  likely  to  be  difficulty  and  mis- 
understanding. These  misunderstandings  and  difficulties  are 
of  various  sorts.  Often  in  English  and  history  the  meaning  of 
certain  words  needs  to  be  explained  in  advance.  Sometimes  it 
is  well  to  warn  the  class  of  errors  which  the  previous  experience 
of  the  teacher  has  shown  him  are  frequently  made.  In  mathe- 
matics and  science  processes  are  to  be  explained  and  illustrated, 
in  language  idioms  to  be  pointed  out,  and  so  on.  In  these  ex- 
planations the  teacher  should  strive  to  aid  the  pupil  in  over- 
coming his  probable  difficulties  in  the  most  economical  manner. 
As  we  pointed  out  in  Chapter  IX.,  however,  the  teacher  must 
avoid  on  the  one  hand  the  extreme  of  telling  the  pupil  so  little 
that  he  will  blunder  about  in  his  work,  and  on  the  other  hand 
telling  him  so  much  that  all  initiative  is  taken  away  from  the 
learner  and  he  is  made  dependent  on  the  teacher.1 

(f )  The  chief  function  of  the  assignment  is  to  teach  the  pupil  how 
to  study. — Few  pupils  in  the  first  years  of  the  high  school  have 
an  adequate  notion  of  how  to  prepare  their  lessons;  many  never 
acquire  any  proper  idea  of  how  to  study.  It  is  an  important 
function  of  the  teacher  to  give  the  pupil  the  necessary  informa- 
tion and  to  habituate  him  in  the  essential  skill  relative  to  the 
preparation  of  his  school  tasks.    It  is  probably  more  important 

1  See  also  Chapter  XVII.,  p.  365. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       241 

so  to  train  the  pupil  that  he  acquires  the  technique  of  eco- 
nomical and  effective  study  than  it  is  to  furnish  him  with  any 
body  of  facts  or  to  habituate  him  in  any  specific  kinds  of  skill. 
In  part,  instruction  in  how  to  study  belongs  to  the  supervised 
study  period  to  be  discussed  in  a  later  chapter;  in  part  it  belongs 
to  the  period  of  assignment  during  the  recitation  hour. 

There  are  various  devices  that  skilled  teachers  use  to  aid  the 
pupil  in  the  preparation  of  his  next  day's  work.  Subsequently 
these  will  be  discussed  at  considerable  length.  Here  we  may 
briefly  mention  some  of  the  most  important.  In  such  subjects 
as  English  literature  and  history  the  teacher  should  frame 
either  by  himself  or  with  the  aid  of  the  class  study-questions,  the 
aim  of  which  is  two-fold,  namely,  to  emphasize  important  points 
and  to  stimulate  thought.  Such  study-questions  are  sometimes 
found  in  well-edited  texts  for  high  school  use.  The  resourceful 
teacher  should  in  any  instance  be  able  to  frame  a  certain  number 
of  such  study-questions.  At  times  study-questions  may  be 
expanded  into  topics  or  organized  into  outlines.  This  is  a 
favorite  device  in  history. 

Demonstrations  of  technique  and  methods  of  procedure  are 
often  employed  by  teachers  of  language,  mathematics,  and  the 
natural  sciences.  Sometimes  the  teacher  of  geometry,  or  algebra 
works  out  with  the  class  the  chief  principles  involved  in  the 
coming  lessons;  teachers  of  physics  and  chemistry  go  over  with 
the  class  in  advance  the  technique  of  their  laboratory  work; 
and  teachers  of  language  show  the  pupils  how  to  translate  with 
the  aid  of  lexicon  and  dictionary  a  passage  "at  sight." 

One  of  the  finest  classes  that  the  writer  has  ever  witnessed  was  that 
of  a  skilled  instructor  in  German.  He  spent  the  entire  hour  with  his 
pupils,  young  men  and  women  in  the  senior  class,  in  going  over  an 
unfamiliar  passage  and  showing  them  how  to  translate  it  in  the  most 
direct,  time-saving,  and  effective  way.  The  outcome  of  this  kind  of 
instruction  was  a  marked  increase  in  the  ability  of  the  class  to  read 
German,  and  a  genuine  pleasure  in  the  accomplishment. 


242  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

The  following  statement  from  an  observer  of  a  class  in  Roman 
history  illustrates  how  some  teachers  attempt  to  instruct  their  pupils 
in  the  proper  method  of  studying  history: — "As  the  period  was  un- 
prepared, there  was  no  hearing  of  any  lesson,  but  the  whole  period 
was  spent  in  discussing  the  assignment  for  the  next  recitation,  and 
in  showing  the  pupils  how  to  select  the  important  ideas  in  the  book 
and  interpret  their  significance.  I  have  never  seen  ancient  history 
taught  more  effectively.  In  the  first  place  the  aim  stood  out  clearly, 
and  the  pupils  comprehended  the  aim.  The  content  of  the  assign- 
ment related  to  the  Roman  army,  the  uses  to  which  the  men  and 
the  equipment  were  put,  and  the  question  of  conquest  and  defence. 
The  teacher  constantly  impressed  upon  the  class  the  desirability  of 
interpreting  the  facts  that  they  found  in  their  book  in  terms  significant 
today.  He  raised  suggestive  questions,  but  he  left  all  of  the  work 
to  be  done  by  the  pupils  themselves.  He  developed  their  ideas  with 
them,  but  he  made  sure  that  the  thoughts  expressed  were  their  ideas, 
and  primarily  their  development. 

"During  the  first  part  of  the  period  he  required  the  class  to  read 
over  silently  the  text,  with  the  thought  of  discovering  while  they  read, 
those  facts  that  had  relation  to  modern  life,  and  present-day  condi- 
tions. Then  he  asked  one  of  the  pupils  to  read  aloud  a  section  that 
had  been  previously  read  by  the  class  in  silence,  and  called  for  sug- 
gestive questions  relating  to  this  section.  The  comparative  ease  with 
which  such  suggestions  were  given  showed  that  the  members  of  the 
class  had  considerable  familiarity  with  this  method  of  study.  Among 
the  questions  brought  out  were  the  following: — 'What  are  the  sources 
from  which  the  United  States  army  is  drawn?'  'To  what  services 
may  this  army  be  put,  besides  those  that  it  now  performs,  so  that  its 
productive  power  may  be  increased?'  'Why  do  modern  nations 
spend  so  much  money  in  the  defence  of  the  territory  formerly  de- 
fended by  the  Romans?'  'Are  the  defences  of  the  United  States 
adequate?'  Many  additional  suggestions  of  a  similar  nature  were 
formulated  by  the  teacher  and  the  class  working  together.  Without 
further  discussion  these  suggestions  were  left  to  be  considered  in  the 
final  working  over  of  the  lesson  outside  of  the  class.  The  vitality  of 
the  recitation,  and  the  apparent  enthusiasm  of  the  class  were  remark- 
able.   The  discipline  was  perfect.    There  was  no  objectionable  be- 


THE  METHODS   OF   THE   CLASS  PERIOD  243 

havior,  and  not  a  single  pupil  showed  a  negative  attitude  toward  the 
work.  Of  course,  points  of  criticism  could  be  found.  At  times  the 
discussion  seemed  to  get  too  far  away  from  the  lesson  in  ancient  his- 
tory. However,  the  teacher  seemed  to  encourage  these  wanderings 
in  so  far  as  they  raised  a  profitable  set  of  questions  that  related  to 
modern  life  and  present-day  conditions." 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS   PERIOD — ADDING  NEW  KNOWLEDGE 
THROUGH    ILLUSTRATION    AND    DEMONSTRATION 

The  Nature  of  Illustration.— A  common  fault  found  in  all 
grades  of  instruction  is  a  lack  of  understanding  on  the  part  of 
the  pupil  of  the  meaning  of  the  facts  and  principles  presented. 
While  this  is  to  an  extent  due  to  an  absence  of  interest  and 
ability  in  the  learner,  it  is  in  part  the  result  of  poor  methods  of 
teaching.  At  times  teachers  do  not  make  the  subject-matter 
with  which  they  are  dealing  sufficiently  concrete  and  definite  to 
secure  the  attention  and  comprehension  of  the  pupil.  Very 
often  such  attention  and  comprehension  can  be  gained  through 
the  use  of  apt  and  familiar  illustrations.  It  has  been  the  writer's 
experience  that  high  school  teachers  as  a  rule  do  not  pay  suf- 
ficient consideration  to  the  problem  of  adequate  illustration. 
They  are  too  apt  to  dwell  in  the  realm  of  the  abstract.  A  con- 
sideration of  the  nature  and  scope  of  illustration  by  the  teacher 
should  impress  him  with  its  great  value  as  a  means  of  adding 
new  knowledge  to  the  information  that  the  learner  already 
possesses. 

(a)  To  illustrate  is  to  make  clear. — The  root  meaning  of  "to 
illustrate"  is  to  make  clear.  As  a  working  definition  the  original 
significance  of  the  term  can  be  accepted  as  a  fundamental  guide 
in  teaching.  It  is  one  of  the  most  important  functions  of  the 
teacher  to  make  clear  to  the  pupil  those  ideas  that  are  presented 
in  text-books  and  oral  discussion  and  which  in  themselves  may 
be  difficult  to  understand  and  envisage.  The  teacher  who  uses 
illustration  as  a  method  of  instruction  aims  to  make  the  less 
well  known  clear  in  terms  of  the  better  known.    Illustration 

244 


THE   METHODS   OF   THE   CLASS   PERIOD  245 

often  employs  likeness  and  comparison  as  its  method  of  ex- 
position, but  the  teacher  should  always  remember  that  mere 
comparison  is  not  enough.  That  which  is  illustrated  must  be 
illustrated  by  something  more  simple  and  familiar  than  itself. 

Particularly  in  literature  the  high  school  pupil  finds  quantities  of 
pseudo-illustrative  materials  in  the  form  of  allusions.  Allusions  are 
often  to  be  classed  as  pseudo-illustrative  from  the  fact  that  they 
express  through  simile,  metaphor,  and  other  figures  of  speech  com- 
parisons which  are  frequently  more  obscure  than  the  simple  state- 
ment without  comparison.  In  the  writer's  own  experience,  Milton's 
poems  were  made  extremely  distasteful  because  of  the  wealth  of 
classical  and  Biblical  allusion  that  they  contained,  and  the  insistence 
of  the  instructor  that  all  of  these  allusions  should  be  traced  to  their 
source  and  explained.  To  a  classicist  such  comparisons  would  be 
vivifying  and  clarifying,  but  to  the  immature  boy  or  girl  of  high 
school  age  they  can  be  nothing  but  a  burden,  discouragement,  and 
source  of  confusion.  The  teacher  of  literature  must  remember  that 
the  allusion  is  introduced  by  the  writer  for  two  purposes.  Probably 
his  minor  aim  in  most  instances  is  to  make  clear  and  definite;  generally 
his  main  purpose  is  aesthetic.  But  in  any  case  neither  clearness  nor 
beauty  can  be  attained  unless  the  reader  understands  the  significance 
of  the  allusion.  As  a  rule  this  understanding  cannot  be  secured  easily 
by  requiring  the  learner  to  study  out  the  significance  of  the  com- 
parisons. He  frequently  loses  the  main  point  in  the  tangle  of  ex- 
planation, and  he  rarely  gets  aesthetic  appreciation  by  the  laborious 
process  of  working  out  the  meaning  of  the  allusion.  The  appreciation 
of  beauty,  like  the  appreciation  of  wit,  must  be  based  on  a  ready  com- 
prehension. To  explain  a  joke  is  to  destroy  it;  likewise  to  explain  a 
simile  or  metaphor  is  to  rob  it  of  its  main  value. 

(b)  The  forms  of  illustration  are  varied. — There  are  numerous 
forms  of  illustration.  The  most  simple  and  direct  means  of  ex- 
plaining some  fact  or  principle  is  to  show  this  fact  or  demonstrate 
this  principle  to  the  learner.  This  is  technically  known  as  object- 
teaching,  and  will  be  discussed  at  greater  length  in  a  subsequent 
paragraph.    Often,  however,  it  is  impossible  to  illustrate  through 


246  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

the  object  itself,  and  sometimes,  as  we  shall  see  later,  it  is  peda- 
gogically  undesirable.  Pictures  and  models  serve  as  excellent 
substitutes  for  objects.  At  times  maps  and  graphs  are  im- 
portant means  of  illustration.  Diagrams  also  are  useful.  They 
are  far  removed  from  the  objective  and  concrete  in  many  in- 
stances, and  yet  they  are  media  of  illustration  if  they  make  more 
clear  and  definite  anything  that  in  itself  is  obscure  and  difficult. 
Diagrams  are  sometimes  used  to  advantage  in  language  lessons. 
They  serve  a  purpose  in  the  exposition  of  extremely  abstract 
forms  of  thought,  as  for  example,  the  employment  by  James  in 
his  Principles  of  Psychology  of  the  "wave  of  consciousness " 
to  illustrate  the  nature  of  mental  processes;  and  the  use  by  some 
writers  and  teachers  of  graphic  and  glyptic  formulae  in  teaching 
chemistry. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  a  visual  presentation  is  not  al- 
ways necessary  as  a  means  of  illustration.  All  that  the  teacher 
needs  to  do  in  many  instances  is  to  call  before  the  "mind's  eye" 
of  the  pupil  some  scene  or  circumstance  which  vivifies  the 
spoken  or  the  printed  word.  The  function  of  the  teacher  here 
is  to  suggest  some  experience  that  arouses  in  the  mind  of  the 
pupil  a  train  of  thoughts  or  definite  images  that  serve  to  give 
meaning  to  what  otherwise  is  likely  to  be  indefinite  and  confused. 

Illustration  through  stimulating  the  imagination  of  the  pupil  has 
its  chief  function  in  literature,  in  history,  and  the  social  sciences.  In 
the  appreciation  of  literature  it  is  often  necessary  for  the  reader  to 
image  the  situations  described  or  narrated.  Whittier's  Snow-Bound, 
for  example,  means  much  more  to  the  boy  or  girl  who  can  picture  the 
winter's  landscape,  the  biting  cold  outside,  and  the  blazing  warmth 
coming  from  the  great  fireplace,  and  see  in  fancy  the  family  group 
seated  near  by,  than  it  can  possibly  mean  to  the  pupil  who  merely 
interprets  the  words  of  the  poem  in  terms  of  their  abstract  meaning. 
It  is  one  of  the  functions  of  the  teacher  through  suggestion  to  arouse 
such  images  in  the  minds  of  his  pupils.  Otherwise  the  teaching  of 
this  form  of  art  may  be  barren  and  devoid  of  interest.    In  the  ap- 


THE   METHODS   OF  THE   CLASS  PERIOD  247 


preciation  of  humor,  too,  which  is  sadly  lacking  in  any  developed 
form  in  most  pupils,  the  teacher  can  do  much  through  illustration  to 
stimulate  a  liking  for  and  a  comprehension  of  the  genuinely  comic. 
Such  writers  as  Washington  Irving  have  a  very  real  and  subtle  sense 
of  the  truly  humorous.  However,  most  pupils  of  high  school  age  fail 
to  comprehend  much  of  this  humor  because  of  its  very  delicacy  and 
refinement.  Through  suggesting  parallels  in  the  pupils'  daily  life  to 
the  scenes  and  incidents  portrayed  by  Irving,  the  teacher  may  make 
real  what  otherwise  would  be  entirely  lost. 

"I  thought,"  writes  an  observer,  "when  visiting  an  English  litera- 
ture class,  I  should  surely  find  the  teacher  appealing  to  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  pupil,  especially  when  the  subject  of  the  lesson  happened 
to  be  a  poem.  Not  once,  however,  was  the  attempt  made  to  have 
the  pupils  use  in  their  mind's  eye  that  which  was  not  present.  Noth- 
ing was  said  about  the  rugged  grandeur  of  the  Scottish  Highlands 
and  lakes,  nor  of  the  stern  character  of  the  Gael.  Instead  of  arousing 
the  class  to  sympathize  with  the  spirit  of  the  poem,  the  whole  hour 
was  occupied  in  asking  them  petty  questions,  the  answers  to  which 
the  pupils  would  forget  after  their  final  examination." 

"What  impressed  me  most  in  this  recitation,"  writes  a  second  ob- 
server, "was  the  unusual  ability  which  the  teacher  possessed  to  call 
up  through  hints  and  suggestions  scenes  and  experiences  that  gave  life 
and  substance  to  the  subject  of  the  lesson, — the  steps  taken  by  Rome 
to  meet  Carthage  on  the  sea,  and  the  events  that  followed  these 
naval  preparations.  He  caused  me,  and  I  am  sure  he  caused  his 
class,  actually  to  visualize  these  preparations.  He  made  the  first 
naval  encounter  between  Rome  and  Carthage  appear  before  the 
mind's  eye  as  a  physical  fact." 

Literature,  like  history,  acquires  value  in  depicting  human  life  in 
terms  of  its  broader  practical,  or  moral  significance.  The  character 
in  fiction,  or  in  real  life,  if  correctly  portrayed,  typifies  some  impor- 
tant aspect  of  human  experience.  Such  characters  stand  out  as  ex- 
amples of  men  and  women  whose  behavior  is  to  be  copied  or  avoided, 
as  the  case  may  be.  However,  too  frequently,  these  persons  seem 
remote  and  unreal.  They  must  be  made  vital  in  the  imagination  if 
they  are  to  have  any  significance  for  young  people  of  the  present  day 
and  generation.    What  is  true  of  historical  and  fictitious  personages 


248  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

is  likewise  true  of  actual  events  and  situations.    They  must  be  inter- 
preted in  terms  of  the  present  if  they  are  to  have  a  meaning. 

The  practice  of  teachers  varies  considerably  in  illustrating 
the  past  by  calling  up  present  events  and  characters.  Some 
teachers  of  history  treat  their  subject  largely  as  a  set  of  facts 
and  principles  that  have  neither  retrospective  or  prospective 
reference.  Some  go  to  the  other  extreme  of  attempting  to  relate 
everything  in  the  text  to  present-day  life  and  conditions.  As  a 
rule,  however,  teachers  err  more  by  lack  of  use  of  parallels  be- 
tween the  past  and  the  present  than  by  excessive  use  of  such 
illustrative  materials. 

We  find  such  instances  as  the  following: — A  teacher  of  English 
history  is  discussing  with  his  class  the  Spanish  Armada  and  the 
growth  of  England's  sea-power.  He  ignores  the  fact  of  the  Great 
War  and  the  part  that  the  British  navy  has  played  in  it.  A  teacher 
of  Roman  history  in  considering  the  class  legislation  contained  in 
the  agrarian  laws  never  mentions  similar  conditions  in  other  periods 
of  history.  A  class  in  United  States  history,  considering  the 
gradual  wearing  down  of  the  South  by  the  North,  is  not  referred  to 
a  similar  process  taking  place  at  the  present  day  in  the  European 
struggle. 

Examples  of  the  opposite  tendency  are  the  following: — A  teacher 
of  civics  in  discussing  taxation,  begins  by  considering  the  manners 
in  which  taxes  are  raised  in  the  local  community.  The  perfidy  of 
Rome  in  her  treatment  of  Carthage  is  made  evident  by  illustrations 
taken  from  individual  life.  "If  you  signed  a  temperance  pledge,  and 
an  enemy  got  all  of  your  acquaintances  to  induce  you  to  drink,  and 
then  punished  you  for  drinking,  would  that  be  fair  treatment?" 
asks  the  teacher.  The  pupils  see  the  point  and  the  moral  issue  in- 
volved. The  significance  of  ostracism  is  brought  home  by  a  reference 
to  the  political  struggle  between  Wilson  and  Hughes,  and  the  effect 
that  the  Athenian  law  would  have  on  these  men  were  it  in  operation 
in  America.  To  illustrate  how  West  has  constructed  his  history  and 
to  impress  on  the  class  some  elements  of  historical  method  the  teacher 
sets  before  his  pupils  the  problem  of  writing  their  own  lives  either 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       249 

chronologically,  or  under  various  topics,  such  as  education,  travels, 
occupations,  recreations  and  amusements.1 

(c)  Illustration  does  not  consist  merely  of  passive  presentation; 
it  involves  reaction  on  the  part  of  the  pupil. — Teachers  make  a 
mistake  if  they  assume  that  illustration  consists  merely  in  show- 
ing some  object  to  the  learner,  or  calling  some  fact  or  incident 
to  his  attention.  Effective  illustration  involves  activity  on  the 
part  of  the  learner.  Such  activity  may  consist  in  objective 
doing,  as  in  dramatization  of  a  school  play,  in  the  making  of 
illustrative  materials  for  individual  or  school  use,  and  so  on,  or 
it  may  be  more  of  a  subjective  nature,  as  for  example,  the  active 
control  of  the  imagination  in  the  creation  of  a  mental  picture  of 
some  incident  or  scene  that  is  presented  in  the  class  exercise, 
or  that  is  assigned  for  outside  study.  In  any  event,  there  must 
be  some  reaction  on  the  part  of  the  learner  if  the  illustration 
is  to  be  effective  in  its  highest  degree. 

The  following  example  of  illustration  that  involves  activity  on 
the  part  of  the  pupil  is  one  that  can  often  be  used  to  advantage  in 
the  work  in  English  composition.  An  observer  says: — "The  best 
example  of  the  process  of  interpreting  facts  of  knowledge  in  terms 
of  facts  of  experience  I  found  in  a  class  in  English.  The  teacher  in 
assigning  a  lesson  in  exposition  took  pains  to  find  some  subject  that 
could  be  described  from  first-hand  knowledge.  As  an  illustration  of 
what  she  wanted,  she  selected  an  article  from  the  morning  paper 
describing  a  Swedish  festivity.  There  were  many  different  nation- 
alities in  her  class,  and  she  asked  for  a  description  of  national  customs 
from  various  representatives  of  this  group.  The  pupils  responded 
with  enthusiasm  to  the  suggestion,  and  the  compositions  that  were 
later  handed  in  were  above  the  average  work  of  this  class,  as  the 
teacher  later  informed  me." 

The  Nature  and  Scope  of  Object-teaching.— In  a  preceding 
paragraph  the  fact  has  been  mentioned  that  the  most  direct 

1  See  Chapter  II.,  p.  32. 


250  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

form  of  illustration  consists  in  presenting  the  object  to  the 
learner.  This  is  object- teaching,  as  it  is  commonly  termed, 
and  it  possesses  certain  decided  advantages,  as  well  as  dis- 
advantages. Object-teaching  is  not  something  new  in  edu- 
cational practice.  In  various  forms  it  has  been  advocated 
by  educational  reformers  for  many  centuries,  and  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree  it  has  been  a  method  employed  in  instruction. 

The  teaching  of  all  subjects  in  their  origin  was  chiefly  objec- 
tive. The  great  departments  of  human  knowledge  grew  up 
largely  because  of  human  needs.  Geometry,  for  example,  as 
its  name  implies  was  measurement  of  land.  In  the  Roman 
schools  calculations  were  carried  on  by  the  use  of  pebbles  and 
the  reckoning  board.  Schoolrooms  were  often  adorned  with 
busts  of  authors  read,  and  with  pictures  cut  in  stone,  depicting 
great  events  of  history  or  mythology.  Nevertheless  a  large 
part  of  the  teaching  was  very  far  removed  from  the  concrete. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  the  education  that  existed  in  the 
middle  ages.  In  later  times,  Comenius  made  it  a  cardinal  maxim 
to  "present  first  the  thing  itself  and  the  real  intuition  of  it;  then 
the  real  explanation  for  the  further  elucidation  of  it."  Rousseau 
said:  "In  general  never  substitute  the  sign  for  the  thing,  save 
when  it  is  impossible  to  show  the  thing."  Pestalozzi  held,  that 
"sense  impression  of  nature  is  the  only  true  foundation  of  knowl- 
edge." Pestalozzi's  influence  first  made  itself  felt  in  Europe, 
but  it  made  great  headway  in  America  after  i860  through  the 
influence  of  the  Oswego  Normal  School.  Most  of  the  accredited 
methods  now  used  in  the  elementary  schools  of  Europe  and  of 
America  can  be  traced  more  or  less  directly  to  the  principles  of 
object-teaching. 

Important  Considerations  to  be  Kept  in  Mind  in  Teaching 
by  Means  of  Objects. — (a)  The  object  may  be  brought  to  the 
pupil,  or  the  pupil  to  the  object. — It  is  obvious  that  certain  ob- 
jects, or  their  representations,  may  be  presented  conveniently 
in  the  classroom.    Others  cannot  be  brought  before  the  pupil 


THE  METHODS   OF   THE   CLASS  PERIOD  25 1 

easily,  and  the  pupil  must  be  taken  to  the  objects.  As  a  rule 
it  is  advantageous  to  bring  the  object  into  the  classroom  when 
this  is  feasible.  It  can  then  be  shown  to  the  class  under  con- 
trolled conditions,  and  it  is  thus  possible  more  definitely,  clearly, 
and  economically  to  exhibit  its  essential  features.  In  some  in- 
stances objects  of  great  size  have  been  brought  into  the  class- 
room. In  engineering  colleges,  for  example,  enormous  rooms 
have  been  provided  into  which  may  be  brought  electric  cars  and 
steam  locomotives,  in  order  that  the  students  in  these  courses 
may  be  shown  the  construction  and  principles  of  operation  of 
these  machines.  Object-teaching  on  such  a  large  scale  is  ex- 
tremely expensive  and  cannot  be  used  to  any  great  extent  in 
most  institutions  of  learning,  clearly  not  in  the  ordinary  high 
school. 

Obviously  there  are  many  objects  that  cannot  be  brought  into 
the  classroom  under  any  circumstances,  for  example,  museums 
of  art  and  industrial  plants.  It  is  important  and  sometimes 
necessary,  however,  that  the  learner  should  see  these  objects. 
There  are  other  objects  that  might  be  brought  into  the  class- 
room, which  can  better  be  seen  and  understood  in  their  natural 
environment.  In  botany  and  zoology  it  is  generally  desirable  to 
show  the  pupils  plants  and  animals  in  the  fields  and  woods 
when  this  is  possible.  The  natural  habitat  is  here  significant 
and  important.  Moreover,  courses  in  geology  and  in  geography 
are  also  effectively  taught  by  taking  the  pupils  out  of  the  school 
building  and  exhibiting  to  them  natural  phenomena  as  they 
exist  in  the  world  outside  of  the  classroom. 

Often  the  object  exhibited  is  not  so  important  as  the  process 
involved.  This  is  clearly  true  to  a  considerable  extent  in  in- 
dustrial plants.  It  is  even  more  true  in  the  operation  of  a  state 
or  a  city  government.  What  the  learner  is  here  chiefly  con- 
cerned with  is  the  procedure  rather  than  the  thing.  That  kind 
of  object-teaching  which  emphasizes  relationships  and  procedure 
is  pedagogically  more  important  than  that  kind  which  lays 


252  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

stress  merely  on  the  object  as  object,  for  the  plain  reason  that 
the  comprehension  of  processes  and  relationships  requires  a 
greater  mental  activity  on  the  part  of  the  learner  than  does  the 
understanding  of  objects  as  mere  things. 

As  a  rule  object-teaching  is  more  in  evidence  in  the  elemen- 
tary than  in  the  high  school.  In  the  primary  grades  a  consider- 
able amount  of  instruction  follows  the  lines  of  the  Kindergarten 
and  the  Montessori  methods,  both  of  which  lay  great  stress  on 
"sense  training"  and  objective  methods.  In  the  upper  grades, 
too,  there  are  numerous  attempts  to  make  abstract  notions  clear 
through  objective  methods.  In  the  high  school,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  the  older  courses,  with  the  possible  exception  of  science, 
object-teaching  as  a  rule  is  conspicuous  by  its  absence. 

(b)  The  mind  of  the  learner  must  be  prepared  to  understand  the 
object  and  to  comprehend  the  process  shown. — The  mere  presenta- 
tion of  the  object  is  not  sufficient  to  insure  comprehension. 
The  pupil  must  know  what  to  look  for  and  how  to  look  for  it  in 
advance  of  the  actual  presentation.  If  a  teacher  is  to  take  his 
class  on  a  field  excursion,  or  on  a  visit  to  a  museum  or  a  local 
industry,  he  must  in  the  first  place  acquaint  himself  with  what 
is  to  be  seen,  and  then  he  must  instruct  his  class  in  what  they 
are  to  see.  Field  excursions  in  biology  often  suffer  from  the 
fact  that  they  are  mere  "excursions."  Too  much  is  left  to 
chance  and  casual  observation. 

As  a  rule  both  adults  and  children  observe  very  inaccurately  what 
they  see,  and  often  omit  some  of  the  most  important  and  essential 
features.  In  recent  years  psychologists  have  given  a  considerable 
amount  of  attention  to  what  is  technically  known  as  the  "psychology 
of  observation  and  report."  Simple  events  have  been  acted  before 
individuals,  and  they  have  been  required  to  state  later  just  what 
happened.  Again,  pictures  have  been  shown  for  a  brief  period  and 
the  observer  has  been  asked  to  describe  what  he  has  seen.  At  times 
the  procedure  has  been  reduced  to  classroom  conditions, — demon- 
strations have  been  conducted  in  such  a  subject  as  physics  or  chemis- 


THE   METHODS   OF  THE   CLASS   PERIOD  253 

try,  and  the  pupils  have  had  the  task  of  writing  up  what  has  occurred. 
In  practically  all  of  these  instances  the  same  facts  appear,  namely, — 
that  much  that  is  objectively  present  is  not  recognized  by  the  ob- 
server, that  a  considerable  portion  of  what  is  seen  is  distorted  and 
confused  in  the  subsequent  report  of  the  observer,  and  that  many 
important  points  are  passed  over,  while  less  essential  details  are  re- 
membered. Similar  facts  have  caused  such  a  leader  in  education  as 
President  Emeritus  Eliot  of  Harvard  University,  to  conclude  that 
one  of  the  great  functions  of  the  schools  should  be  to  train  the  pupils 
in  accurate  observation  of  what  is  presented  to  them.  How  much 
can  systematically  be  accomplished  in  this  way  is  uncertain.  How- 
ever, in  specific  instances,  the  teacher  should  endeavor  to  prepare 
his  pupils  in  advance  for  the  presentation  and  observation  of  con- 
crete materials,  and  he  should  further  instill  into  their  minds  a  desire 
to  observe  carefully  and  report  accurately.  If  he  does  this  he  will 
doubtless  give  them  a  certain  amount  of  general  training  that  will 
be  as  useful  to  them  as  an  equal  amount  of  training  in  fundamental 
habits  and  in  correct  modes  of  thought. 

(c)  The  pupil  must  be  required  to  give  back  to  the  teacher  in 
some  form  that  which  he  has  observed. — Not  only  must  the  object 
be  presented,  not  only  must  the  pupil  be  prepared  in  advance 
to  observe  what  he  is  to  witness;  he  must  further  be  required  to 
report  in  some  form  the  results  of  his  observation.  Pestalozzi, 
years  ago,  in  insisting  on  the  importance  of  observation,  em- 
phasized equally  the  necessity  of  coupling  it  with  expression. 
Here  is  involved  the  important  principle  spoken  of  in  an  earlier 
paragraph, — namely,  illustration  must  include  activity  as  well 
as  passivity  on  the  part  of  the  learner.  In  the  procedure  of  the 
school,  observation  can  be  advantageously  correlated  with  work 
in  written  and  in  oral  composition.  The  pupil  is  required  to 
describe  in  written  form  what  he  has  seen,  or  to  tell  what  he 
has  seen,  for  the  benefit  of  the  class.  In  this  latter  instance  we 
have  again  an  example  of  the  benefits  of  oral  composition  when 
properly  conducted,  and  also  an  excellent  illustration  of  the 
cooperative  class. 


254  INTRODUCTION   TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

(d)  Care  must  be  taken  to  prevent  the  object  from  confusing  the 
idea  which  it  is  intended  to  clarify. — It  must  always  be  kept  in 
mind  that  object-teaching  is  a  means  to  an  end,  and  not  an  end 
in  itself.  Its  purpose  is  to  give  meaning  to  some  fact  or  prin- 
ciple that  is  relatively  abstract  and  obscure.  Whatever  clarifies 
the  meaning  aids  in  comprehension.  The  function  of  object- 
teaching  is  merely  to  make  ideas  more  definite  and  simple.  If, 
however,  the  learner's  attention  is  buried  in  the  object,  he  may 
for  this  very  reason  fail  to  grasp  the  idea  which  the  object  is 
intended  to  illustrate.  He  may  not  see  the  forest  because  of 
the  trees. 

There  are  two  chief  reasons  why  objects  may  distract  from 
the  meaning  which  the  teacher  is  intending  to  impress  on  the 
minds  of  his  pupils,  rather  than  emphasize  this  meaning.  In 
the  first  place,  an  attractive  object  may  in  itself  be  so  interest- 
ing that  the  pupil  will  be  entirely  absorbed  in  it  as  an  object  of 
sensory  experience. 

This  is  often  true  in  regard  to  pictures,  particularly  moving  pic- 
tures, which  have  been  advocated  as  means  of  instruction.  Such 
pictures,  if  used  in  the  school,  however,  must  be  employed  with  the 
greatest  of  care;  otherwise  they  are  likely  to  degenerate  into  mere 
forms  of  entertainment.  Children  are  interested  in  a  purely  sensory 
way  in  pictures,  particularly  animated  pictures.  They  give  little 
heed  to  what  these  pictures  mean  unless  they  have  had  their  minds 
prepared  in  advance  to  look  at  these  pictures,  and  unless  they  are 
required  to  react  in  some  definite  way  to  what  they  have  seen.  The 
writer  has  often  found  that  little  children  will  follow  with  concen- 
trated attention  the  presentation  of  a  "photo-play"  without  under- 
standing anything  about  the  plot  or  the  deeper  meaning,  merely 
because  form  and  movement  are  in  themselves  attractive.  This  is 
doubtless  true  to  a  considerable  extent  of  adults  as  well.  Question 
a  dozen  of  your  acquaintances  in  regard  to  the  "pictures"  that  they 
saw  yesterday,  and  you  will  with  scarcely  an  exception  find  that  their 
ideas  are  extremely  hazy  on  the  subject.  Perhaps  the  fact  that  the 
great  majority  who  witness  these  forms  of  entertainment  get  but 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       255 

little  beyond  the  mere  stimulation  of  their  senses,  in  part  accounts 
for  the  fact  that  the  ideas  behind  the  photo-plays  continue  to  be  so 
superficial  and  few,  and  the  plots  so  hackneyed  and  wretchedly  con- 
structed. The  public  demand  nothing  better.  When  moving  pic- 
tures are  used  in  the  school  as  means  of  instruction  they  must  be  ex- 
hibited in  connection  with  definite  topics  of  study,  and  they  must  be 
so  presented  as  to  require  the  pupil  to  think  out  the  meaning  to  an 
extent  himself.  What  applies  to  moving  pictures  applies  with  equal 
force  to  pictures  shown  with  the  ordinary  projection  lantern,  and  to 
pictures  in  the  form  of  stereoscopic  cards,  for  use  in  the  common 
hand-stereoscope. 

In  the  second  place,  objects  may  hinder  comprehension  be- 
cause of  the  fact  that  little  effort  is  required  to  look  at  them. 
Attention  may  be  at  a  low  ebb,  and  thought  practically  non- 
existent when  the  object  is  before  the  eyes.  If  the  learner  at- 
tempts to  envisage  the  absent  object,  however,  he  finds  that 
he  must  give  a  higher  degree  of  attention  and  comprehension. 
Further,  he  discovers  by  this  means  where  he  is  weak  in  his 
comprehension,  and  finally  in  the  end  the  object  and  its  mean- 
ing are  better  stamped  on  the  memory  because  of  this  effort  in 
visualization. 

Judd,1  in  discussing  the  teaching  of  geometry  by  illustrative 
methods,  says,  "  Writers  on  the  teaching  of  geometry  have 
urged  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  give  models  and  photographs  to 
students  when  they  are  studying  solid  geometry.  The  writer 
saw  this  pedagogical  doctrine  carried  one  step  further  by  a 
teacher  who  did  not  draw  even  the  flat  figures  of  plane  geometry 
on  the  board,  but  required  the  members  of  the  class  to  keep  the 
figure  in  mind  after  it  had  been  drawn  by  a  movement  of  the 
hand  in  the  air  before  them.  This  teacher's  contention  was  that 
reasoning  about  figures  was  more  exact  if  the  students  had  the 
figures  in  their  heads." 

It  would  be  difficult  to  decide  in  any  a  priori  fashion  the  rela- 

1  C.  H.  Judd,  The  Psychology  of  High  School  Subjects,  p.  44  (1915). 


256  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

tive  merits  of  the  use  or  disuse  of  models  and  diagrams  in  teach- 
ing such  a  subject  as  geometry.  Here  is  an  opportunity  for  an 
extended  and  carefully  controlled  experiment  under  classroom 
conditions.  It  seems  probable,  however,  that  those  writers 
and  teachers  who  would  entirely  discard  the  use  of  visual  illus- 
trations in  teaching  the  properties  of  plane  and  solid  figures, 
have  gone  too  far.  Many  persons  have  little  power  of  visualiza- 
tion in  space  relationships,  and  would  be  entirely  lost  without 
some  objective  aid.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  desirable  to  train 
pupils  to  think  in  visual  terms  as  much  as  possible.  It  seems 
well  to  continue  the  use  of  the  common  objective  means  of 
teaching  geometrical  reasoning,  but  to  supplement  it  by  sub- 
jective methods. 

The  problem  in  regard  to  object-teaching  here  raised  is  not  peculiar 
to  the  teaching  of  geometry.  It  applies  to  all  subjects  and  to  all 
grades  of  instruction.  There  is  danger  of  insisting  too  much  on  the 
concrete  when  abstract  methods  of  thought  are  desirable  and  neces- 
sary. Little  progress  could  be  made  in  arithmetic,  and  still  less  in 
algebra,  if  the  thinking  in  these  subjects  were  tied  down  to  objects, 
and  if  the  learner  were  always  required  to  work  out  relationships  in 
concrete  terms.  Splints  may  be  useful  in  teaching  the  pupil  to  count, 
but  he  must  soon  get  beyond  this  stage  of  learning  if  he  is  to  make 
real  progress.  Some  of  the  elementary  work  in  fractions  can  be  done 
by  visual  methods,  but  these  must  be  discarded  relatively  early. 
Even  in  such  subjects  as  civics  and  social  science  thought  must  go 
beyond  the  "picture  stage''  if  it  is  to  possess  real  value. 

Demonstration  as  a  Form  of  Illustration. — In  preceding 
paragraphs  demonstration  has  been  spoken  of  as  a  method  of 
making  some  idea  or  fact  clear  to  the  learner  by  exhibiting  its 
operation.  Demonstration  may  be  considered  as  that  form 
of  illustration  which  is  employed  when  a  process  as  distinguished 
from  a  thing  is  to  be  exemplified.  We  commonly  think  of 
demonstration  in  such  subjects  as  physics  and  chemistry.  It 
is  a  method  of  illustration  which  can  easily  be  applied  to  the 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       257 

teaching  of  all  of  the  natural  sciences.  By  the  aid  of  the  moving 
picture  it  can  also  be  used  in  practically  all  subjects  of  the  cur- 
riculum. Indeed,  when  anything  objective  happens,  that  oc- 
currence can  be  demonstrated,  if  the  teacher  has  the  proper 
facilities  to  do  so. 

Demonstration  in  the  form  of  the  "class  experiment"  may 
be  substituted  for  individual  laboratory  work,  and  often  to  great 
advantage.  Many  experiments  in  physics,  for  example,  require 
apparatus  that  is  too  expensive  to  duplicate,  and  too  delicate  to 
be  handled  by  the  individual  pupil  without  careful  supervision. 
In  such  cases  the  demonstration  before  the  class  should  be  care- 
fully worked  out,  the  pupils  being  required  to  note  accurately 
all  that  takes  place,  and  write  up  a  report  of  it  as  a  part  of  their 
regular  assignment.  Teachers  of  laboratory  subjects  should 
consider  the  possibilities  of  the  class  experiment,  and  utilize 
it  whenever  it  can  be  advantageously  employed.  At  times  it 
is  economical  and  pedagogically  correct  to  have  a  weekly  period 
for  the  class  experiment  as  a  substitute  for  one  of  the  two  double 
laboratory  periods  usually  set  aside  in  the  high  school  for  the 
teaching  of  the  sciences. 

Cautions  to  be  Observed  in  Class  Demonstrations.— From 
what  we  have  already  said  in  regard  to  the  general  principles  of 
illustration  it  can  be  seen  that  demonstrations  must  be  con- 
ducted with  great  care  if  they  are  to  secure  results.  There  are 
several  cautions  in  addition  to  those  already  mentioned  that 
the  teacher  must  keep  in  mind,  if  demonstration  is  to  prove 
effective.  The  most  important  of  these  cautions  are  the  fol- 
lowing: 

(a)  The  teacher  must  make  sure  that  the  essential  parts  of  the 
demonstration  can  be  seen  easily  by  all  of  the  class. — Frequently 
processes  are  exhibited  before  large  bodies  of  pupils  that  make 
little  impression  on  the  majority  of  the  class.  Sometimes  these 
demonstrations  cannot  be  seen;  sometimes  they  can  be  seen  if 
the  pupil  exerts  an  extra  amount  of  effort.    They  must  be  so 


258  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

clear  and  striking,  however,  that  they  at  once  secure  the  atten- 
tion of  the  class,  if  they  are  to  make  a  valuable  impression. 

Some  teachers  spend  a  large  amount  of  time  and  show  great  in- 
genuity in  making  apparatus  of  such  proportions  that  it  can  be  ob- 
served by  all  of  the  class  without  difficulty.  When  such  apparatus 
is  constructed  it  should  be  devised  with  the  thought  of  its  wide  use. 
Something  that  can  be  shown  many  times,  rather  than  once,  some- 
thing that  can  be  used  to  illustrate  various  applications  of  a  principle 
or  law,  is  well  worth  while.  Some  of  the  practical  applications  of  the 
principles  of  electricity  can  be  shown  as  class  demonstrations  to  great 
advantage,  when  the  apparatus  is  of  sufficient  size  to  be  seen  by  all. 
Other  physical  principles  can  be  demonstrated  equally  well. 

The  writer  recently  witnessed  a  demonstration  in  chemistry,  in 
which  hydrogen  sulphide  was  being  generated  under  a  hood,  and  the 
class,  twenty-six  in  number,  were  gathered  around  to  observe  the 
process.  Seven  pupils  could  see  what  was  taking  place.  The  others 
could  get  but  an  occasional  glimpse.  Twenty  minutes  were  consumed 
in  demonstrating  the  method  of  generating  the  gas,  and  in  showing  its 
properties.  The  majority  of  the  class  spent  the  time  in  looking  about 
the  room,  reading  their  text,  and  conversing  with  their  neighbors. 
In  a  second  class  an  instructor  in  botany  was  demonstrating  the 
properties  of  cane  sugar  and  grape  sugar  at  a  small  table  with  a  class 
of  thirty  crowded  around  him.  In  another  school,  a  teacher  of  physics 
was  discussing  magnetism,  and  was  showing  the  arrangement  of  iron 
filings  in  the  magnetic  field.  Only  the  pupils  in  the  front  row  of  seats 
could  see  what  was  being  demonstrated. 

The  following  examples  show  careful  attempts  on  the  part  of 
the  instructor  to  make  his  class  see  the  details  of  his  demon- 
strations:— 

A  teacher  of  physics  is  instructing  his  pupils  in  the  essentials  of 
the  construction  of  a  steam  engine  and  its  manner  of  operation.  To 
do  this  he  uses  a  wooden  model  whose  dimensions  are  roughly  four 
feet  by  two  feet.  This  model  can  be  taken  apart  and  its  parts  shown 
separately.     These  are  painted  in  white,  black,  red,  green,  blue, 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       259 

ige,  and  yellow,  in  order  that  they  may  stand  out  more  clearly 
when  the  machine  is  shown  as  a  whole.  This  same  teacher  has  made 
other  models  for  demonstration  purposes,  such  as  a  spring  barometer, 
a  force-pump,  and  a  steam  pressure  gauge.  These  are  all  of  such  size 
that  they  can  be  seen  in  their  details  by  every  member  of  the  class. 

A  teacher  of  physiology  in  presenting  the  topic  of  micro-organisms 
and  their  significance  in  the  human  body,  shows  the  class  various 
types  of  such  organisms  by  means  of  the  microscopic  attachment  to 
an  excellent  projection  lantern. 

A  teacher  of  the  manual  arts  proposes  to  prepare  a  series  of 
"close-up"  pictures  for  a  cinema  demonstration  of  some  of  the  most 
important  fundamental  operations  in  wood-work.  The  value  of 
this  method  of  demonstration  to  large  groups  has  not  been  sufficiently 
recognized.  Since  the  picture  can  be  greatly  magnified,  and  since 
the  operation  of  the  machine  can  be  regulated  to  almost  any  desired 
speed,  the  details  of  motions  can  be  brought  out  by  this  means  in  a 
truly  astonishing  manner. 

(b)  The  teacher  must  be  reasonably  sure  that  the  demonstration 
that  he  is  conducting  will  be  successful. — A  demonstration  that 
does  not  work,  is  worse  than  no  demonstration.  Under  such 
circumstances  the  class  frequently  forms  the  opinion  that  the 
fact  to  be  illustrated  has  no  real  existence  outside  of  the  lecture 
or  the  text-book.  Perhaps  more  often  they  conclude  that  the 
teacher  has  little  skill  or  knowledge  of  his  subject.  This  belief 
on  the  part  of  the  class  is  a  serious  matter,  and  the  teacher  should 
do  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  such  an  opinion  from  being  formed. 
Too  much  care  in  the  preparation  of  a  demonstration  cannot 
be  taken. 

An  observer  reports  the  following  incident:  "Yesterday  I  visited 
a  class  in  geometry  conducted  by  Miss  S — .  I  was  much  impressed 
with  her  ability  as  an  instructor  until  she  attempted  to  show  to  the 
pupils  by  visual  demonstration  the  fact  that  the  angles  of  a  triangle 
equal  two  right  angles.  The  fact  had  already  been  demonstrated 
clearly  and  definitely,  but  to  make  its  truth  more  emphatic  the 


260  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

teacher  roughly  constructed  a  triangle,  and  measured  it  with  a  crude 
protractor.  The  measurement  showed  that  the  triangle  had  one 
hundred  and  ninety  degrees.  I  gained  the  impression  that  this  part 
of  the  recitation  was  a  failure.  In  the  place  of  making  a  point  em- 
phatic and  pressing  it  home,  the  teacher  ended  the  day's  exercise 
with  the  weak  remark, — 'If  I  had  drawn  the  triangle  more  carefully 
and  measured  it  more  accurately,  you  would  have  seen  that  it  would 
have  just  one  hundred  and  eighty  degrees.'  I  asked  myself  the  ques- 
tion,— 'Does  the  class  believe  her  statement?'" 

Examples  of  Illustration  in  High  School  Subjects. — 

In  the  preceding  pages  of  this  chapter  various  examples  of 
illustration  have  been  given  in  connection  with  the  principles 
there  discussed.  Under  this  topic  will  be  brought  together 
other  examples  of  effective  illustration  taken  from  the  field  of 
high  school  teaching. 

(a)  Dramatization  as  a  means  of  teaching  literature. — An  ef- 
fective means  of  making  a  play  of  Shakespeare  real  to  a  high 
school  class  is  to  assign  various  parts  to  individuals  in  the  class, 
who  present  it  before  the  class  as  a  whole  in  dramatic  form. 
Such  a  procedure  always  arouses  interest,  and  if  kept  within 
bounds  is  an  admirable  means  of  making  vivid  the  play  under 
consideration.  There  are  certain  objections,  however,  that 
must  be  considered,  and  given  due  weight.  As  a  rule  it  is  im- 
possible to  select  all  the  class  as  performers.  Some  have  such 
slight  dramatic  ability,  that  they  would  spoil  the  play  if  they 
were  given  any  important  role.  Again,  pupils  are  likely  to 
make  too  much  out  of  the  work,  and  to  over-emphasize  the 
acting  side.  If  a  play  is  presented  with  any  degree  of  elaborate 
detail,  it  consumes  a  great  amount  of  time.  Most  teachers  of 
literature  limit  attempts  at  dramatization.  They  may  assign 
various  scenes  to  be  read  by  individual  members  of  the  class, 
and  they  may  improvise  crude  stage  properties  and  settings, 
but  to  go  beyond  this  is  outside  of  the  province  of  the  teacher  of 
literature.    If  a  school  play  is  to  be  given,  that  is  quite  a  dif- 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       26 1 

ferent  matter.    It  is  rather  a  form  of  social  activity  than  a  means 
of  serious  instruction. 

The  most  elaborate  instance  of  an  attempt  to  make  real  plays  of 
Shakespeare  in  the  high  school  that  has  come  to  the  writer's  atten- 
tion is  that  of  the  puppet  plays  given  in  the  high  school  of  Easton, 
Pennsylvania.  The  following  description  is  given  in  the  words  of 
Lear  Anderson,  a  senior  in  the  school:  "The  idea  of  the  'Little  Theatre' 
originated  with  the  class  of  1916.  The  plans  for  carrying  out  the 
idea  were  hailed  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  .  .  .  The  Little  Thea- 
tre is  about  four  and  one-half  feet  long  and  three  and  one-half  feet 
high.  There  is  an  opening  at  the  front  for  a  curtain  which  can  be 
raised  and  lowered  by  a  string.  There  are  tiny  electric  bulbs  for  foot- 
lights. The  interior  of  the  stage  is  also  lighted  by  several  small 
bulbs  above  it.  Dolls,  which  represent  characters,  are  moved  by 
long  wires  attached  to  tiny  bases  to  which  the  dolls  are  fastened. 
The  Manual  Training  Department  constructed  the  theatre  and  the 
stage  furniture.  The  Domestic  Arts  Department  dressed  the  dolls; 
the  boys  who  had  studied  electricity  in  physics,  did  the  wiring  for 
the  lighting;  and  we  were  fortunate  in  having  in  our  class  a  young 
man  who  could  paint  scenery.  When  the  Little  Theatre  was  com- 
pleted it  represented  the  joint  efforts  of  several  departments  of  the 
school.  It  is  a  splendid  example  of  how  the  interests  of  other  depart- 
ments are  bound  up  with  those  of  the  English  Department. 

"We  made  a  careful  study  of  Hamlet  before  we  made  any  attempt 
to  dramatize  it.  Then  a  committee  of  students  were  appointed  to 
divide  the  work.  There  were  property  men,  an  electrician,  a  manager, 
a  director,  and  readers  who  prepared  parts  for  the  various  characters. 
There  were  rehearsals  after  school,  and  many  of  the  students  devoted 
much  of  their  spare  time  toward  planning  scenes  and  preparing 
parts.  .  .  .  There  were  a  few  of  us  at  each  performance  who  were 
fortunate  enough  to  be  mere  spectators.  These  spectators  were 
required  to  give  suggestions  and  to  criticise  the  day's  work.  We  were 
always  better  satisfied,  however,  when  we  were  taking  an  active  part 
in  the  work,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  required  more  of  our  time.  A 
written  criticism  and  report  in  detail  of  each  day's  performance  was 
made  by  a  class  reporter  who  was  appointed  each  day.  .  .  , 


262  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

"The  direct  benefits  we  derived  from  the  use  of  the  Little  Theatre 
are  sufficient  to  encourage  the  English  Department  to  continue  its 
use.  The  incentive  to  learn  to  read  well  was  greater  than  it  ever  had 
been.  The  Little  Theatre  gave  those  in  the  Manual  Training  De- 
partment an  opportunity  to  apply  their  knowledge  of  construction 
work,  as  well  as  teaching  them  the  proportions  of  a  theatre.  The 
girls  in  the  Domestic  Arts  Department  learned  what  colors  appear 
best  behind  the  foot-lights.  We  had  always  daily  reports  of  the 
class,  but  a  dramatic  criticism  was  unusual  as  well  as  novel.  .  .  . 

"The  Little  Theatre  still  has  many  untried  and  undiscovered  pos- 
sibilities. .  .  .  but  we  feel  that  we  have  at  least  succeeded  in  open- 
ing a  field  of  action  in  which  an  appreciation  for  good  drama  in  com- 
paratively small  children  may  be  developed." 

(b)  Object-teaching  in  the  practical  arts. — In  the  high  school 
the  most  extensive  field  of  object-teaching  is  found  in  the  man- 
ual and  domestic  arts.  These  subjects  cannot  be  taught  apart 
from  the  concrete  materials  with  which  they  deal.  In  these 
departments  we  find  the  advantage  of  illustration  not  only 
through  the  presentation  of  concrete  materials,  but  also  through 
activities  required  in  the  construction  of  these  materials.  It 
should,  however,  be  kept  in  mind  that  the  very  ease  with  which 
concreteness  and  definiteness  is  obtained  in  these  subjects  may 
carry  with  it  certain  disadvantages  unless  these  subjects  are 
safeguarded.  Pupils  are  to  be  taught  not  only  to  acquire  a 
certain  amount  of  skill  in  performance,  but  also  to  acquire  dis- 
crimination, taste,  and  judgment.  These  abilities  must  be 
established  if  the  courses  are  to  have  real  educational  value. 
A  similar  problem  appears  in  the  teaching  of  the  laboratory 
sciences,  which  like  the  practical  arts  have  a  foundation  in 
concrete  materials  and  their  manipulation. 

Adams  *  in  his  excellent  book  on  illustration  quotes  Sir  William 
Ramsay  as  follows: 

1  John  Adams,  Exposition  and  Illustration  in  Teaching,  p.  318  (1910). 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       263 


"Far  too  much  stress  is  laid,  nowadays,  on  what  is  called  'prac- 
tical work.'  It  is  possible  to  have  quite  an  intelligent  idea  of  chemis- 
try without  ever  having  handled  a  test-tube  or  touched  a  balance. 
Lectures  on  chemistry  may  be  well  illustrated  experimentally,  and 
the  necessary  theories  demonstrated  by  the  lecturer.  ...  To  spend 
several  hours  a  day  in  practical  work  is,  if  not  waste,  often,  at  least, 
a  work  of  supererogation."  While  few  teachers  of  those  subjects 
which  offer  opportunities  for  practical  work  would  agree  with  this 
extreme  and  somewhat  reactionary  statement,  all  should  recognize 
the  fact  that  practical  work  should  be  something  more  than  mere 
practice.  In  the  workshop,  the  studio,  and  the  laboratory,  the  stu- 
dent should  be  taught  to  discriminate  and  think,  as  well  as  to  see 
and  do. 

(c)  Illustration  through  demonstration  apparatus. — In  our  dis- 
cussion of  demonstration  as  a  means  of  illustration  the  state- 
ment was  made  that  teachers  of  science  could  profitably  spend 
time  in  constructing  or  assembling  pieces  of  apparatus  suitable 
for  demonstrating  some  of  the  more  important  principles  of  the 
science  and  its  application.  As  an  example  of  a  piece  of  appara- 
tus of  this  sort,  the  following  description  is  suggestive: 

"The  transformer  which  I  use  in  demonstrating  to  my  class  in 
elementary  physics  that  the  potential  of  the  outgoing  current  (second- 
ary) bears  the  same  ratio  to  the  potential  of  the  incoming  current 
(primary)  as  the  number  of  turns  of  wire  carrying  the  outgoing  cur- 
rent bears  to  the  number  of  turns  of  wire  carrying  the  incoming  cur- 
rent, has  been  a  valuable  aid  to  me  in  my  instruction,"  writes  Mr.  R.  O. 
Dummer  of  the  Hope  Street  High  School,  Providence.  "The  trans- 
former consists  of  three  parts; — First,  a  core  (x)  of  No.  18  iron  wire, 
2}i  inches  in  diameter,  and  10  inches  long.  This  core  weighs  about 
10  pounds,  and  is  tightly  wound  together  by  strong  cord,  and  then 
shellacked.  Second,  a  primary  coil  (y)  of  600  turns  of  No.  16  cotton- 
covered  magnet  wire.  A  lead  is  taken  out  at  the  end  of  the  first  200 
turns.  The  coil  will  slide  over  the  core  easily.  Third,  a  secondary 
coil  (z).  This  consists  of  a  loop  of  flexible  lamp  cord  six  feet  long. 
The  ends  of  this  cord  are  fastened  to  the  base  of  a  i}4  volt  lamp 


264  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

which  serves  to  indicate  the  voltage  of  the  outgoing  or  secondary 
current.  The  lamp  will  burn  at  proper  brilliancy  when  supplied  with 
a  current  at  a  pressure  of  i>£  volts.  Decreased  brilliancy  means  a 
falling  off  in  the  voltage.  Increased  brilliancy  means  an  increase  in 
voltage. 

"The  apparatus  can  be  so  arranged  that  a  current  will  flow  through 
200  turns  of  wire,  through  400  turns,  or  through  600  turns.  Suppose 
the  current  is  sent  first  through  200  turns.  Take  the  flexible  cord 
with  the  small  lamp  attached  and  make  one  turn  about  the  iron  core 
close  to  the  primary  coil.  The  filament  will  glow  slightly;  add  a 
second  turn  and  the  brilliancy  is  increased;  add  another  turn,  and 
the  lamp  will  give  its  proper  brilliancy.  Thus  we  find  through  this 
demonstration,  by  means  of  a  piece  of  apparatus,  the  construction 
and  manipulation  of  which  can  be  easily  seen  by  the  entire  class,  that 
100  volts  in  a  primary  of  200  turns  gives  a  current  of  1.5  volts  in  a 
secondary  of  three  turns,  verifying  our  equation: — 


V 

t  (urns) 

v~' 

t' 

H 

= 

t 

100 

200 

.  t 

= 

3 

"Now  on  making  this  computation  for  a  current  through  400  and 
600  turns,  we  find  t  to  have  values  of  6  and  9  respectively.  This 
means  that  when  the  current  is  sent  through  400  turns  of  wire,  we 
must  wrap  the  flexible  cable  around  the  core  six  times  in  order  to 
bring  the  lamp  to  proper  brilliancy,  and  that  when  the  current  is 
sent  through  600  turns  of  the  wire  it  will  take  nine  turns  of  the  flexible 
cable  to  produce  the  desired  effect.  The  class  are  greatly  interested, 
when  they  have  discovered  by  the  formula  what  the  effect  should  be, 
to  see  if  this  effect  actually  takes  place  in  a  demonstration  apparatus. 

"In  concluding  the  experiment,  I  send  a  100  volt  current  through 
200  turns,  wrap  the  secondary  three  times  about  the  core,  and  the 
lamp  comes  to  proper  brilliancy.  I  add  one  more  turn,  and  the  lamp 
is  over-brilliant,  and  with  the  addition  of  a  fifth  turn,  it  burns  out." 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       265 

It  may  be  said  in  conclusion  that  this  demonstration  is  an  ad- 
mirable illustration  of  the  deductive  development  lesson  of  the  an- 
ticipatory type.    This  is  discussed  in  detail  in  Chapter  XIV.1 

(d)  Illustration  by  means  of  pictures. — In  our  discussion  of 
this  means  of  illustration,  we  have  mentioned  the  use  of  the 
moving  picture,  the  common  projection  lantern,  and  the  stereo- 
scope as  important.  The  moving  picture  has  not  been  exten- 
sively employed  as  yet  as  a  means  of  instruction  in  the  high 
school.  It  can  be  used  most  effectively  when  introduced  as  a 
part  of  a  lesson  in  the  classroom.  Frequent  use  in  this  way 
would  mean  careful  preparation  in  advance;  it  would  require  a 
selection  of  films  that  would  be  difficult  to  obtain,  even  when 
they  are  in  existence,  and  would  involve  large  expense.  For 
these  reasons  the  use  of  moving  pictures  as  effective  means  of 
illustration  must  of  necessity  be  limited  in  most  high  schools. 
The  projection  lantern  may  be  employed  more  extensively. 
In  the  best  high  schools  at  least  one  such  lantern  is  available. 
Courses  in  science,  history,  and  literature  could  be  made  more 
vital,  interesting,  and  definite  if  the  teachers  had  for  their  use, 
at  the  appropriate  time,  carefully  selected  sets  of  slides. 

In  a  high  school  of  medium  size  in  one  of  the  better  New  England 
communities,  a  room  that  will  conveniently  seat  fifty  pupils  is  set 
aside  exclusively  for  the  purpose  of  illustration  by  means  of  the  pro- 
jection lantern.  The  machine  is  of  the  best.  It  combines  with  the  or- 
dinary projection  features  by  means  of  slides,  a  reflectoscope,  and  a 
microscopic  attachment.  The  lantern  is  at  the  service  of  every  de- 
partment of  instruction  in  the  school  but  is  used  chiefly  by  the  teach- 
ers of  science,  history  (including  civics),  literature,  and  art.  At  the 
beginning  of  each  term  a  definite  assignment  of  the  room  is  made  to 
various  teachers  according  to  a  carefully  worked-out  program.  Slides 
and  other  materials  to  be  used  with  the  lantern  are  carefully  assembled 
in  advance,  and  the  schedule  of  the  various  classes  is  so  arranged 
that  the  room  will  be  used  by  each  class  at  the  time  when  it  will  be 

1  See  p.  307. 


266  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

most  advantageous.  The  room  is  occupied  practically  every  day  in 
the  school  year,  and  on  many  days  it  is  constantly  in  use  during  the 
session.  The  teachers  have  found  this  means  of  illustration  of  the 
greatest  advantage,  and  as  the  work  has  become  more  and  more 
systematized,  and  teachers  have  learned  to  understand  its  possibili- 
ties, its  value  has  been  greatly  increased.  The  success  of  this  means 
of  illustration  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  has  been  carefully  worked  out 
in  terms  of  instructional  needs.  It  is  not  used  in  an  incidental  or 
haphazard  way,  and  never  as  a  method  of  entertainment. 

In  many  high  schools  the  hand-stereoscope  is  used  extensively 
in  connection  with  courses  in  such  subjects  as  commercial 
geography  and  economics.  This  method  of  illustration  is  easily 
employed  in  teaching  certain  phases  of  history  and  literature. 
It  can  be  used  to  advantage  in  giving  pupils  pictures  of  space 
relationships  in  three  dimensions  in  teaching  solid  geometry. 
The  great  value  of  the  stereoscope  is  in  the  fact  that  it  represents 
objects  tri-dimensionally,  and  thus  gives  them  an  appearance 
of  reality  that  cannot  be  obtained  by  any  other  means  of  pic- 
torial representation.  There  is  a  disadvantage  in  the  fact  that 
a  picture  can  be  presented  to  only  one  pupil  at  a  time. 

In  one  high  school  in  which  the  hand-stereoscope  is  used  effectively 
as  a  means  of  instruction  a  room  of  large  dimensions  is  devoted  to 
the  purpose,  with  a  teacher  or  assistant  always  in  attendance.  The 
room  is  provided  with  filing  cases,  and  the  stereograms,  which  have 
been  carefully  collected  over  a  period  of  years  by  the  principal  and 
teachers,  are  arranged  according  to  definite  topics  of  instruction. 
Here  are  found  stereograms  in  connection  with  the  teaching  of  litera- 
ture, history,  geography,  economics,  civics,  science  (principally 
biology),  art,  and  commerce.  Pupils  are  assigned  to  look  up  and 
report  on  specific  subjects  that  arise  in  the  course  of  the  class  work. 
For  example,  the  teacher  of  literature  is  working  with  the  class  on 
the  poems  of  Burns.  Pupils  are  sent  to  the  room  at  definite  periods , 
previously  assigned,  and  are  referred  to  stereograms  designated  by 
certain  numbers  and  filed  in  reference  to  these  numbers.  Each  slide 
assigned  is  studied  by  the  pupil,  who  takes  down  notes  of  what  he  has 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       267 

seen,  and  writes  a  paper  on  "The  Land  of  Burns."  In  this  particular 
instance  the  teacher  correlates  the  work  in  composition  with  the 
observation  of  the  stereograms.  An  incidental  feature  of  the  use  of 
the  stereograms,  which  the  teachers  of  commercial  subjects  consider 
of  general  value,  is  that  the  pupils  are  introduced  to  a  carefully  worked 
out  and  practical  system  of  filing. 

(e)  Illustration  through  models,  charts,  maps,  and  diagrams. — 
Models  in  high  school  instruction  are  employed  largely  in  courses 
in  the  life  sciences.  They  have  certain  advantages  as  means 
of  illustration  that  the  living  or  dead  forms  do  not  always  pos- 
sess, since  they  can  show  facts  and  relationships  that  the  actual 
objects  cannot  easily  exhibit.  Care  should  be  taken  for  this 
reason  to  impress  upon  the  pupil  the  fact  that  models  are  spe- 
cially prepared,  and  that  both  in  size  and  appearance  they  may 
not  be  in  conformity  in  every  particular  with  the  object  that 
they  illustrate.  In  the  writer's  own  case  he  was  astonished  to 
find  that  some  of  his  students  in  psychology  had  supposed  that 
the  papier  mache  model  of  the  human  brain  represented  ac- 
curately in  all  details  the  actual  brain.  They  therefore  as- 
sumed that  the  brain  was  hollow,  as  was  the  model,  and  that 
the  various  fibers  could  be  seen  in  the  real  brain,  just  as  they 
could  be  seen  in  the  model.  Some  of  the  class  did  not  appear 
to  realize  that  the  model  of  the  brain  was  very  much  larger 
than  the  actual  brain.  Because  the  model  is  an  abstraction, 
and  does  not  represent  the  actual  object  in  all  of  its  details, 
Adams l  recommends  that  "whenever  possible,  the  teacher 
should  follow  the  example  of  the  engineer,  and  end  all  his  model 
work  by  a  reference  to  the  actual  object. " 

Maps  are  important  in  high  school  work,  principally  in  in- 
struction in  history.  At  times  they  can  be  used  to  advantage 
in  other  subjects.  Whenever  localities  have  a  significance  they 
should  be  definitely  indicated.  Often  teachers  of  history  dis- 
cuss in  detail  facts  whose  significance  depends  largely  on  the 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  323. 


268  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL   TEACHING 

location  of  cities,  boundaries,  coast  lines,  and  mountains,  and 
yet  ignore  entirely  these  important  geographical  features,  or  at 
most  refer  to  them  verbally.  Maps  are  necessary  for  instruc- 
tion of  this  type. 

Maps  as  they  are  used  in  the  schools  in  America  have  certain  very 
obvious  defects  which  need  to  be  remedied  before  they  can  be  used 
effectively.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  R.  M.  Brown,  of  the  Rhode  Island 
State  Normal  School  for  the  following  notes  in  regard  to  wall  maps: — 
i.  A  wall  map  should  display  its  features  in  such  a  way  that  they 
can  be  seen  from  every  part  of  the  room.  A  glazed  surface  does  not 
permit  this.  Names  in  small  type  tend  to  confusion.  2.  A  physical 
wall  map  is  more  valuable  than  a  political  one.  3.  A  physical  wall 
map  should  follow  the  rules  generally  accepted  by  geographers.  Low- 
lands should  be  in  green  and  highlands  in  brown.  Water  should  be 
in  blue,  the  deepest  shades  for  the  greatest  depths.  Localities  may 
be  indicated  by  a  large  dot  or  circle.  Political  divisions  may  be  in- 
dicated on  such  maps  by  heavy  red  lines.  4.  The  newest  idea  is  to 
have  a  single  map  for  a  single  feature,  and  new  maps  are  being  pub- 
lished at  a  small  cost  with  this  end  in  view. 

Teachers  find  it  difficult  as  a  rule  to  secure  an  adequate  number  of 
maps,  and  especially  to  obtain  maps  that  are  designed  to  show  par- 
ticular features.  Most  of  the  wall  maps  that  are  in  use  confuse  with 
the  multiplicity  of  their  details.  Rarely  can  any  important  feature 
be  seen  by  all  of  the  class  from  their  seats.  As  a  substitute  for  the 
large  wall  map  the  teacher  will  find  the  individual  outline  map  often 
superior.  The  important  features  can  be  filled  in  by  the  class,  and 
in  this  way  the  attention  will  be  centered  on  the  chief  details.  The 
outline  map  is  of  considerable  advantage  in  teaching  the  development 
of  a  country.  When  maps  are  not  available  the  teacher  should  em- 
phasize the  important  geographical  facts  by  drawings  on  the  board. 

Graphic  representations  in  the  form  of  diagrams  are  of  great 
use  as  illustrations  in  such  subjects  as  mathematics,  science, 
civics,  and  economics.  The  interpretation  of  statistical  facts 
by  means  of  the  distribution  graph  and  similar  devices  should 
be  used  more  extensively  than  at  present. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       269 

In  regard  to  graphic  representations  in  algebra,  Judd  l  says: — "The 
student  gets  an  idea  from  seeing  a  graphic  representation  of  an  equa- 
tion which  he  never  could  get  in  the  same  vivid  way  if  the  matter 
were  discussed  wholly  in  abstract  terms.  This  disposition  to  show 
the  student  concrete  facts  related  to  algebraic  equations  is  one  of  the 
most  important  innovations  that  have  been  made  in  the  presentation 
of  mathematical  sciences  to  secondary  school  students." 

In  discussing  graphic  representations  of  abstract  facts  and  rela- 
tionships, Adams  2  says, — "The  value  of  such  diagrams  is  that  we 
can  envisage  at  one  glance  a  large  number  of  facts  that  would  baffle 
any  mind  to  deal  with  when  presented  seriatim.  .  .  .  The  now  com- 
mon plan  of  recording  such  matters  as  lengths  of  shadows,  tempera- 
tures, barometric  pressures,  school  attendances,  has  rendered  the 
chart  form  of  illustration  familiar  even  to  young  children." 

In  the  use  of  maps  and  diagrams  the  teacher  should  keep  in 
mind  the  important  fact  that  their  meaning  is  not  self-evident. 
The  pupils  must  be  trained  in  their  interpretation  if  these  illus- 
trations are  to  be  of  value. 

(f)  Illustration  through  example. — A  common  means  of  mak- 
ing clear  some  topic  that  is  difficult  of  comprehension  is  to  rein- 
force it  through  example.  The  most  obvious  illustrations  of 
this  type  in  high  school  instruction  are  found  in  such  subjects 
as  algebra  and  foreign  languages.  Here  the  examples  are  pre- 
sented in  verbal  form,  and  great  care  must  be  taken  to  make 
them  as  definite  and  clear  as  possible.  Otherwise  they  will  fail 
as  illustrations  because  of  their  abstractness.  It  is  to  be  re- 
membered that  examples  in  these  subjects  in  addition  to  serv- 
ing as  illustrations  of  rules  and  principles  perform  the  further 
functions  of  offering  opportunities  for  drill  and  for  thinking. 
Examples  have  added  attractiveness  and  meaning  when  they  are 
taken  from  experiences  familiar  in  the  everyday  life  of  the  pupil. 

For  instance,  the  teacher  of  physics  illustrates  the  meaning  of 
stable,  unstable,  and  neutral  equilibrium,  by  showing  a  glass  stand- 

1  Op.  at.,  p.  109.  2  Op.  tit.,  pp.  384-385. 


270  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

ing  upright,  a  celluloid  manikin  with  a  lead  weight  at  the  base,  and  a 
glass  turned  over  on  its  side;  and  the  meaning  of  friction  by  adhesion 
by  exhibiting  a  glass  bird  sticking  to  a  flower  dish  by  means  of  gum 
rubber.  The  teacher  of  Latin  makes  clearer  the  meaning  of  the 
prepositions:  a,  ad,  de,  e,  and  ex,  by  writing  the  words  ad-vance,  ab- 
sent, de-scend,  and  ex-terior  on  the  board  and  discussing  with  the 
class  their  significance. 

It  has  often  been  urged  that  examples  with  a  practical  ap- 
plication are  to  be  used  whenever  possible  as  means  of  illustra- 
tion, and  attempts  have  been  made  to  give  every  subject  in  the 
curriculum  a  practical  significance.  While  it  is  possible  and 
desirable  to  make  high  school  subjects  practical  in  the  broadest 
sense  of  the  term,  it  is  frequently  impossible,  and  sometimes 
undesirable  to  attempt  to  show  the  relation  of  a  topic  or  a 
subject  to  the  business  of  earning  a  living. 

In  discussing  the  application  of  mathematics  to  occupations  in  the 
world  outside  the  school,  D.  E.  Smith  says, — "The  actual  amount  of 
algebra  needed  by  a  foreman  in  a  machine  shop  could  be  taught  in 
about  four  lessons,  and  the  geometry  of  mensuration  that  he  needs 
can  be  taught  in  eight  lessons  at  the  most.  The  necessary  trigonom- 
etry may  take  eight  more." 

Examples  may  be  negative,  as  well  as  positive,  so  to  speak. 
That  is,  the  teacher  may  illustrate  what  the  correct  fact  or 
procedure  is  by  showing  what  it  is  not.  There  is,  however, 
danger  of  illustrating  through  "bad  examples.' '  The  danger 
consists  in  what  the  psychologist  terms  "negative  suggestion." 
The  learner  may  take  the  bad  example  as  a  copy.  For  this 
reason  a  rule  that  should  always  be  followed  is, — "Never  call 
an  error  to  the  attention  of  a  pupil  or  a  class  unless  such  an 
error  is  frequently  made." 

Recently  the  writer  visited  a  class  in  commercial  English  in  which 
the  whole  period  was  used  in  the  correction  of  a  poorly  written  business 
letter  taken  from  the  text.     There  is  no  justification  for  such  pro- 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       27 1 

cedure.  Frequently  he  has  found  classes  in  English  expression  de- 
voting considerable  portions  of  their  time  to  stating  the  right  forms 
for  the  erroneous  expressions  found  in  the  exercise  books.  When 
such  exercise  books  are  used,  the  high  school  teacher  should  take 
pains  to  have  the  frequent  and  common  errors  alone  corrected.  Un- 
usual errors,  and  extreme  niceties  of  language  should  not  be  called  to 
the  attention  of  the  average  high  school  pupil. 

Illustration  may  be  secured  by  contrasting  examples.  When 
the  contrasts  are  perfectly  clear,  and  are  carefully  emphasized, 
so  that  confusion  is  not  likely  to  result,  this  is  an  effective 
method  of  making  concrete  the  subject-matter  qi  the  lesson. 

For  example,  in  the  teaching  of  Latin,  differences  in  declensions 
and  conjugations  are  often  emphasized  by  contrasting  examples  of 
the  various  forms.  In  teaching  history,  the  patriotism  of  Lincoln 
may  be  contrasted  with  the  self-seeking  of  Napoleon.  In  the  teach- 
ing of  stenography  the  formation  of  similar  outlines  may  be  made 
more  evident  by  showing  the  particulars  in  which  they  differ.  In 
the  teaching  of  algebra  the  various  methods  of  factoring  may  be  set 
over  against  one  another;  and  so  on  throughout  the  entire  curriculum. 
Indeed,  in  a  sense,  contrast  is  an  essential  part  of  all  likeness.  There 
is  no  difference  without  a  resemblance,  and  no  resemblance  without  a 
difference.  The  purpose  of  the  lesson  and  the  psychology  of  instruc- 
tion determine  in  any  individual  instance  which  shall  be  emphasized. 

(g)  Illustration  through  oral  suggestion. — In  an  earlier  part  of 
the  present  chapter  we  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  teacher 
need  not  present  to  the  pupil  an  object  or  a  representation  of 
an  object  in  order  to  illustrate  the  matter  at  hand.  It  is  some- 
times more  striking,  and  generally  easier,  to  call  up  some  familiar 
scene  to  the  imagination  of  the  pupil  than  it  is  to  present  it 
physically  to  the  view.  The  teacher  who  is  fertile  in  illustrations 
of  this  sort  is  generally  an  effective  teacher. 

A  common  form  of  oral  suggestion  is  by  analogy.  The  sub- 
ject for  consideration  is  made  more  intelligible  by  calling  to 


272  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

the  learner's  attention  some  familiar  fact  or  process  with  which 
he  is  acquainted. 

This  is  a  form  of  illustration  employed  in  history.  For  example, 
political  parties  in  Rome  are  illustrated  by  political  parties  in  the 
United  States;  personal  liberty  in  Greece  is  compared  with  liberty 
in  America;  the  Great  War  is  discussed  with  reference  to  our  own 
Civil  War.  In  these  instances  the  facts  compared  are  of  the  same 
order,  so  to  speak,  and  differ  only  in  details.  They  are  in  a 
way  partial  examples,  rather  than  thoroughgoing  analogies.  In  this 
resemblance  with  difference  lies  a  great  danger.  The  pupil  may  con- 
sider the  illustrations  as  complete  examples  of  that  which  the  teacher 
is  attempting  to  clarify,  and  may  identify  all  of  the  conditions  of  the 
illustration  with  those  which  are  illustrated,  and  thus  get  an  entirely 
wrong  idea  of  the  topic  under  consideration.  For  this  reason,  illus- 
tration through  analogy  in  which  facts  of  one  order  are  compared 
with  facts  of  a  totally  different  order  is  sometimes  more  effective. 

An  excellent  example  of  analogy  of  this  type  is  given  by  Judd  l 
and  taken  from  a  class  in  high  school  physics  in  which  the  instructor 
was  attempting  to  clarify  the  methods  of  the  transmission  of  heat. 
"The  instructor  began  by  furnishing  the  students  with  the  imagery 
necessary  to  enable  them  to  picture  to  themselves  the  molecules  and 
their  relations.  He  asked  them  if  they  had  ever  noticed  the  way  in 
which  bricks  are  carried  in  the  construction  of  a  building  from  the 
supply  point  to  where  they  are  to  be  used.  By  questioning  the  class 
he  brought  out  the  fact  that  there  are  at  least  two  entirely  different 
ways  in  which  the  bricks  may  thus  be  carried.  In  one  case  a  line  of 
workmen  is  formed  and  the  bricks  are  passed  directly  from  one  to 
the  other  along  the  line.  In  the  second  case  the  workman  takes  a 
hodful  and  goes  the  whole  distance.  With  this  analogy  in  mind,  he 
gave  some  simple  demonstrations  to  show  that  in  some  cases  the  heat 
which  is  applied  to  substances,  such  as  iron,  is  passed  rapidly  from 
molecule  to  molecule.  ...  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  case  of  water 
there  is  no  rapid  transmission  of  heat  from  molecule  to  molecule, 
but  heat  must  be  carried  by  a  change  in  the  position  of  the  heated 
water  particles." 

1  Op.  cit.y  p.  325. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       273 

Oral  suggestion  may,  of  course,  take  other  forms  than  that 
of  analogy.  There  is  a  large  scope  for  exemplification  through 
recalling  to  the  pupil  concrete  instances  of  the  facts  and  prin- 
ciples under  consideration.  In  the  preparation  of  the  daily 
lesson  the  high  school  teacher  should  attempt  always  to  have 
ready  a  few  such  examples  taken  from  the  experience  of  the 
class.  There  is  no  subject  in  the  curriculum  in  which  such 
examples  cannot  be  found.  The  anecdote  is  another  impor- 
tant means  of  illustration,  particularly  in  discussing  literary 
and  historical  personages.  Sometimes  it  is  possible  to  use  the 
fable,  particularly  in  certain  phases  of  moral  instruction. 

It  should  finally  be  remembered  that  whatever  the  form  the 
illustration  may  take,  it  should  be  an  important  aspect  of  the 
lesson.  Teachers  should  constantly  seek  to  vivify  their  instruc- 
tion by  apt  and  clarifying  examples  of  what  the  text-book  pre- 
sents, and  what  the  class  is  considering.  It  is  easy  to  deal  with 
generalities;  it  is  a  comparatively  simple  matter  to  give  a  rule, 
or  to  state  a  fact;  but  to  give  the  rule  point,  to  make  the  fact 
meaningful,  is  a  vastly  different  matter.  Yet  no  teaching  that 
is  worthy  of  the  name  stops  with  the  statement  of  the  rule,  or 
the  presentation  of  the  fact.  Illustration  is  not  merely  a  fine 
art  in  teaching,  it  is  an  indispensable  means  of  making  teaching 
effective.  Many  teachers  use  illustration  ineffectively;  few  high 
school  teachers  over-illustrate. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD — ADDING  NEW  KNOWLEDGE 
THROUGH  STIMULATION  OF  THOUGHT 

Reasons  for  Stimulating  the  Pupil  to  Think. — The  state- 
ment is  frequently  made  that  one  of  the  most  important  objects, 
if  not  the  chief  object  of  instruction,  is  to  develop  in  the  learner 
an  ability  to  think.  There  are  at  least  four  main  reasons  that 
can  be  urged  in  support  of  this  statement.    They  are  as  follows: 

(a)  Thought  is  an  aid  to  memory. — If  the  object  of  learning 
were  merely  to  impress  the  memory,  thinking  would  have  an 
important  function,  because  of  the  fact  that  anything  that  is 
thought  out  makes  a  more  definite  and  permanent  impression 
on  the  mind  than  the  same  thing  committed  to  memory  by 
rote.  If  the  object  in  teaching  geometry  were  solely  to  famil- 
iarize the  learner  with  a  given  number  of  propositions,  stated 
and  proved  in  a  definite  way,  it  would  be  more  economical  to 
require  the  pupils  to  reason  out  the  proofs,  than  it  would  be  to 
have  them  learn  these  proofs  by  heart.  If  the  only  value  of  the 
rule  in  algebra  for  squaring  a  polynomial  were  that  the  pupils 
could  accurately  state  the  rule,  it  would  nevertheless  be  better 
for  the  pupils  to  arrive  at  this  rule  by  a  process  of  inductive 
reasoning,  than  it  would  be  for  them  to  commit  it  to  memory 
by  sheer  attention  and  repetition. 

(b)  Thought  gives  meaning  to  the  mere  fact. — Something  that 
is  thought  out  acquires  a  meaning  that  it  could  not  possess  if 
it  were  presented  as  a  pure  statement  of  fact.  Not  only  is  a 
rule  better  remembered  if  it  is  thought  out  than  if  it  is  merely 
"committed  to  memory,"  but  in  the  process  of  thinking,  the 
real  meaning  of  the  rule  becomes  apparent.    This  is  one  of  the 

274 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       275 

chief  reasons  why  McMurry  1  insists  that  the  recitation  should 
be  in  the  form  of  the  inductive  development  lesson,  which  con- 
sists essentially  in  formulating  and  applying  some  generalization 
on  the  basis  of  facts  presented  to  the  learner.  For  example, 
the  pupils  could  quite  easily  learn  the  fact  that  large  trade 
centers  tend  to  develop  when  situated  on  important  waterways, 
and  when  possessing  ample  railroad  connections,  but  to  know 
just  what  these  facts  signify,  it  is  necessary  for  the  learner  to 
have  arrived  at  the  general  statement  from  the  examination  and 
classification  of  particular  instances.  It  is  quite  possible  for  a 
class  in  German  to  learn  the  rule  for  prepositions  governing  the 
dative  case.  Indeed,  this  is  the  common  method  of  procedure. 
However,  the  significance  of  this  rule  would  be  greatly  enhanced 
if  it  were  formulated  by  the  learners  themselves  after  observ- 
ing numerous  specific  instances. 

(c)  Thought  furnishes  a  method  of  procedure  by  which  new  facts 
may  be  acquired,  and  by  which  new  methods  of  procedure  may  be 
initiated. — This  is  the  chief  function  and  the  essential  value  of 
the  thought  process.  If  the  learner  could  not  think  he  could 
never  meet  a  new  situation  intelligently,  He  would  be  obliged 
to  trust  to  the  "blundering  method "  in  acquiring  new  knowl- 
edge, and  in  coping  with  novel  conditions.  A  high  school  pupil 
who  learns  to  solve  an  original  in  geometry  acquires  by  his 
efforts  not  only  a  better  memory  for  and  a  better  understanding 
of  this  one  original  proposition,  but  he  thereby  gains  a  method 
of  procedure  which  will  help  him  in  the  solving  of  all  similar 
originals;  the  learner  who  has  mastered  a  construction  in  Latin 
in  one  particular  instance  will  be  able  to  use  the  knowledge 
thus  acquired,  in  understanding  similar  constructions  that  he 
may  meet  later. 

(d)  Thought  developed  in  one  field  of  learning  tends  to  give  the 
learner  ability  to  think  in  other  fields. — This  statement  is  fre- 
quently made,  and  often  passes  unchallenged.     Indeed,  the 

1  Op.  cit. 


276  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

developing  of  the  ability  of  the  learner  to  think  in  general  is 
held  to  be  the  chief  objective  of  education  by  many.  In  recent 
years,  experimental  psychology  has  made  it  apparent  that  the 
acquisition  of  an  ability  by  practice  in  one  field  does  not  neces- 
sarily mean  that  this  ability  can  be  used  in  fields  in  which  it 
has  not  been  acquired.  Certain  it  is  that  the  pupil  who  has 
learned  to  think  in  solving  originals  in  geometry  has  not  learned 
to  think  equally  well  in  marshaling  facts  in  history,  or  in  de- 
vising experiments  in  chemistry.  However,  it  is  doubtless  true 
that  the  pupil  who  has  learned  to  think  well  in  one  field  of  learn- 
ing has  thereby  acquired  an  ability  to  think  that  goes  beyond 
this  subject.  It  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  his  methods  of 
thinking  have  been  strengthened  in  all  subjects  that  have  recog- 
nized similarities  to  the  subject  in  which  he  has  learned  to 
think.1 

It  is  evident  from  the  reasons  discussed  above  that  the  teacher 
should  consider  it  one  of  the  chief  objectives  of  instruction  to 
develop  in  his  pupils  the  capacity  to  think  in  the  subject  that  he 
teaches.  However,  it  is  the  common  opinion  of  competent  ob- 
servers of  high  school  classes  that  this  objective  is  realized  much 
less  than  can  reasonably  be  expected.  Apparently  many  teachers 
are  on  the  whole  content  to  spend  most  of  their  time  in  testing 
the  knowledge  of  the  pupil  for  facts  that  he  has  learned  from 
the  text-book,  in  drilling  the  pupil  until  he  becomes  more 
nearly  perfect  in  what  he  has  thus  acquired,  and  in  adding  to 
his  store  of  knowledge  by  statements  and  explanations  made 
during  the  class  period.  Such  teachers  require  little  genuine 
reaction  on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  and  seem  to  regard  the  educa- 
tive process  as  the  addition  of  information  to  the  mind  of  the 
learner  by  a  method  which  is  chiefly  receptive.  That  this  pic- 
ture does  not  accurately  represent  all  teachers  of  high  school 
subjects,  probably  not  the  majority  of  such  teachers,  and  that 
the  number  of  those  who  are  content  with  the  "pouring-in" 
1  See  Chapters  X.  and  XVI.,  pp.  207-209  338,  339. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       277 

process  in  teaching,  is  clearly  becoming  less,  are  among  the 
most  encouraging  signs  in  the  field  of  high  school  education  of 
the  present  time. 

The  Essential  Elements  that  Enter  into  the  Thought 
Process. — Since  training  the  pupil  to  think  is  to  be  considered  as 
one  of  the  chief  aims  of  instruction,  it  is  important  for  us  to 
consider  at  this  point  the  essential  elements  that  constitute  the 
thought  process  and  the  conditions  under  which  thought  arises. 

(a)  Thought  is  stimulated  only  when  a  genuine  difficulty  con- 
fronts  the  learner. — The  chief  function  of  thought,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  is  to  enable  the  learner  to  meet  a  novel  situation 
intelligently.  The  situation  is  novel  in  that  it  has  not  been 
encountered  before,  at  least  in  the  identical  way  in  which  it  is 
now  present.  Since  it  is  novel  it  cannot  be  met  entirely  by  old 
and  habitual  methods.  There  are  two  ways  of  meeting  a  novel 
state  of  affairs.  Some  learners  will  attempt  to  overcome  the 
difficulty  in  a  purely  haphazard  way,  and  by  blundering  on 
until  they  hit  upon  a  solution  by  mere  chance;  more  intelligent 
learners  will  attempt  to  discover  some  method  of  procedure  in 
the  light  of  their  past  experience  that  will  aid  them  in  meeting 
the  present  difficulty.  It  hardly  need  be  said  that  the  blunderers 
rarely  solve  their  problems,  and  when  they  do  by  mere  chance, 
the  solution  is  sometimes  not  recognized  and  seldom  leaves  a 
permanent  impression. 

The  blundering  method  of  meeting  a  difficulty  finds  one  of  its  best 
illustrations  in  the  manner  in  which  many  persons  attempt  to  solve 
a  mechanical  puzzle.  They  twist,  turn,  and  manipulate  the  device  in 
various  ways,  hoping  that  by  some  chance  the  puzzle  will  solve  itself. 
Sometimes  when  they  succeed  in  doing  the  trick,  they  have  not  the 
slightest  idea  of  how  they  accomplished  the  result.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  expert  in  solving  puzzles  studies  out  the  situation  in  ad- 
vance of  actual  manipulation;  he  at  once  eliminates  certain  move- 
ments as  of  no  avail  and  restricts  his  endeavors  along  promising  lines 
of  procedure.    When  he  actually  tries  to  solve  the  puzzle  through 


278  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

manipulation,  he  carefully  observes  each  step  that  he  takes,  and  by 
this  means  is  enabled  to  retrace  the  false  moves  that  he  makes,  and 
to  confirm  the  correct  moves. 

The  methods  (or  rather  lack  of  methods)  which  many  pupils  use 
in  attempting  to  solve  school  problems  resemble  those  employed  by 
the  blunderer  in  working  out  mechanical  puzzles.  Such  pupils  have 
no  definite  idea  of  procedure.  They  stumble  on,  now  doing  this, 
now  that,  but  seldom  accomplishing  anything  worth  while.  Many 
teachers  of  algebra  and  geometry  would  be  much  surprised  if  they 
should  observe  in  detail  the  manner  in  which  their  pupils  "study" 
their  lessons. 

(b)  The  difficulty  that  confronts  the  learner  must  be  a  real  dif- 
ficulty for  him. — In  presenting  to  the  pupil  material  in  the  form 
of  a  problem,  the  teacher  must  make  sure  that  this  material  is 
a  genuine  problem  for  the  learner.  If  the  problem  is  too  dif- 
ficult, if  the  pupil  cannot  comprehend  it,  if  he  lacks  the  mental 
content  necessary  for  its  solution,  then  such  a  problem  is  of  no 
value.  On  the  other  hand,  if  it  requires  no  genuine  thought,  if 
it  is  so  easy  that  an  immediate  and  ready  response  can  be  given, 
then  for  the  pupil  it  has  no  value  in  stimulating  rational  ability. 
Further,  if  the  pupil  takes  no  interest  in  the  problem  as  it  is 
presented,  if  he  does  not  care  what  the  solution  is,  then  again 
for  such  a  pupil  the  material  has  no  thought  value.  For  these 
reasons  care  must  be  taken  by  the  teacher  to  give  pupils  problems 
of  reasonable  difficulty,  but  not  beyond  their  comprehension 
and  ability  to  master,  and  problems  that  have  for  the  pupils 
some  intrinsic  or  extrinsic  interest. 

.  Probably  in  no  subject  in  the  high  school  curriculum  are  materials 
which  are  presented  in  the  form  of  problems,  less  real  incentives  to 
thinking  than  in  geometry.  The  form  of  geometry  is  so  strictly 
logical  that  the  belief  is  general  that  it  is  an  excellent  means  of  train- 
ing the  "reasoning  powers"  of  the  learner.  The  fact  that  in  outward 
structure  the  propositions  in  geometry  are  based  on  a  rigorous  de- 
ductive procedure  should  deceive  no  one  acquainted  with  the  minds 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       279 

of  high  school  pupils.  In  the  first  place,  the  logic  is  in  many  instances 
too  difficult  for  the  average  pupil  to  follow,  and  in  the  second  place, 
most  pupils  do  not  care  actually  to  solve  a  problem  in  geometry. 
They  are  quite  content  to  "learn"  the  proof,  or  to  solve  originals 
by  the  assistance  of  their  parents,  or  of  older  or  more  capable  pupils. 
"It  seems  almost  impossible,"  writes  a  beginning  teacher,  "for  the 
class  as  a  whole  to  do  problems;  they  cannot  even  do  them  when  they 
are  done  out  for  them  in  the  text-book.  Most  of  my  pupils  are  of 
such  poor  mentality  that  they  could  more  profitably  spend  their  time 
on  something  else  than  geometry."  An  extreme  and  pessimistic 
statement,  doubtless;  and  yet  there  is  more  than  a  modicum  of 
truth  in  it.  Geometry,  algebra,  and  similar  subjects  afford  a  most 
valuable  training  in  reasoning  for  the  capable  and  ambitious  pupil. 
For  the  dull  and  slothful  their  usefulness  may  be  questioned.  If  they 
are  to  be  taught  as  subjects  that  develop  reasoning  abilities  they 
must  be  so  taught  that  those  who  take  these  courses  shall  find  in 
them  real  problems  that  they  can  solve  with  reasonable  effort. 

Teachers  sometimes  go  to  the  opposite  extreme  in  presenting  to 
their  classes  problems  that  are  so  easy  that  they  have  no  real  dif- 
ficulty and  require  no  thought.  Often  high  school  teachers  who 
pride  themselves  on  asking  "thought  questions"  put  queries  to  their 
classes  that  require  for  the  pupils  of  good  and  average  ability  no 
deliberation  at  all.  In  the  writer's  experience  such  questions  are  not 
infrequently  asked  in  history.  The  teacher  should  beware  of  the 
too  glib  and  ready  answer  to  his  "thought  questions."  To  think 
means  to  deliberate.  The  immediately  obvious  answer  is  not  the 
thoughtful  answer. 

(c)  Correct  thinking  must  be  based  on  definite  knowing. — One 
reason  why  many  of  the  problems  that  are  given  pupils  are 
beyond  their  ability  to  handle  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  pupils 
have  no  definite  comprehension  either  of  the  language  used  or 
of  the  concepts  presented.  The  teacher  of  history  who  asked 
his  class  to  consider  in  studying  an  assignment  in  regard  to  the 
life  of  the  Athenians  the  cardinal  virtues  of  the  Greeks,  and  who 
later  asked  his  pupils  in  English  history  to  write  a  paper  on  the 


280  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

psychological  tendencies  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  may  be  ex- 
cused in  part  because  of  the  fact  that  he  had  but  recently  gradu- 
ated from  college,  and  had  not  as  yet  learned  how  limited  a 
vocabulary  the  average  boy  or  girl  possesses.  The  same  excuse, 
however,  cannot  be  offered  for  an  older,  more  experienced 
teacher,  who  found  to  his  surprise  that  his  class  failed  totally  to 
understand  the  significance  of  Boyle's  law  because  they  did 
not  know  the  meaning  of  the  term  "inversely." 

Much  of  the  teaching  of  physics,  chemistry,  and  biology  would 
be  made  more  simple  if  the  instructor  took  greater  care  in  developing 
the  meaning  of  the  scientific  terminology  used.  This  terminology 
must  be  employed,  but  it  has  no  value  unless  the  words  are  based  on 
an  adequate  understanding  of  their  significance.  In  any  class  in  which 
technical  terms  are  used,  frequent  tests  should  be  given  to  determine 
to  what  extent  the  pupils  understand  the  meaning  of  the  terminology. 
Obviously,  merely  defining  the  terms,  particularly  in  the  words  of 
the  text-book,  is  no  adequate  test.  The  pupils  must  be  tested  in  the 
actual  use  of  these  terms  in  appropriate  connections.  In  this  way 
the  teacher  will  be  training  his  class  in  accurate  concept-building, 
which,  if  not  an  essential  part  of  reasoning  itself,  is  the  prerequisite  of 
all  thinking.  , 

(d)  Correct  thinking  requires  that  the  problem  be  clearly  en- 
visaged and  definitely  kept  in  mind. — No  difficulty  can  be  solved 
unless  that  difficulty  be  accurately  comprehended  and  con- 
tinually held  in  attention.  The  pupil  must  be  able  to  state  the 
problem  and  understand  what  it  means  if  he  is  intelligently  to 
undertake  its  solution.  It  frequently  happens  that  high  school 
pupils  do  not  know  in  any  concise  manner  what  they  are  trying 
to  accomplish  in  working  out  an  example  in  algebra  or  a  proposi- 
tion in  geometry.  It  is  much  better  for  the  pupil  to  discover 
the  problem,  and  to  state  it  himself  than  it  is  to  have  the  teacher 
formulate  the  problem  for  him,  or  to  have  him  learn  it  in  the 
words  of  the  text-book. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       28 1 

In  this  particular  the  teaching  of  geometry  is  emphatically  at 
fault  in  many  instances.  A  common  method  is  to  refer  the  pupil  to 
the  text  for  the  statement  of  the  propositions  that  are  to  be  demon- 
strated. Often  when  this  is  not  the  method,  the  teacher  states  the 
propositions  himself.  In  every  instance  when  it  is  possible,  the 
teacher  should  develop  the  propositions  to  be  taken  up  in  the  next 
lesson  with  the  class,  and  have  the  class  state  these  propositions 
themselves.1  Many  of  the  propositions  found  in  the  texts  in  geometry 
can  be  seen  to  be  true  by  the  pupils,  before  they  are  actually  demon- 
strated. It  should  be  the  aim  of  the  instructor  so  to  present  these 
propositions,  by  the  careful  drawing  of  figures,  and  by  comment  on 
them,  that  the  class  will  be  led  to  perceive  the  spatial  relationships 
involved.  Later,  the  teacher  may  ask  them  logically  to  prove  that 
these  relationships  hold  true.  For  example,  it  is  not  a  difficult  matter 
for  the  pupil  to  perceive  that  the  greatest  angle  in  a  triangle  lies  op- 
posite the  greatest  side.  Not  until  he  has  seen  that  this  is  true,  should 
he  be  asked  to  prove  it  logically.  In  a  similar  way  pupils  may  be 
shown  that  the  number  of  triangles  into  which  any  polygon  may  be 
divided  equals  the  number  of  sides  of  the  polygon  less  two,  and  so  on 
throughout  a  long  list  of  propositions.  The  value  of  the  learner's 
formulating  h'o  own  proposition  in  geometry  is  not  alone  due  to  the 
fact  that  this  procedure  lies  at  the  basis  of  correct  reasoning,  but  also 
to  the  further  important  circumstance  that  such  formulation  em- 
phasizes ,he  intuitional  and  constructional  phases  of  geometry,  phases 
which  -;re  most  vital  to  the  real  comprehension  of  the  subject.  It 
should  be  remembered  that  the  logical  method  in  which  geometry  is 
commonly  cast  is  not  geometry  but  logic.  Real  geometrical  insight 
is  not  merely  or  largely  a  matter  of  deductive  acumen. 

The  discovery  and  formulation  of  problems  by  the  pupil  in 
such  subjects  as  geometry,  algebra,  and  physics  is  as  important 
for  him  as  is  their  actual  solution.  Problem-stating  in  these 
subjects  should  be  made  a  major  aspect  of  the  work.  It  is 
possible  in  other  subjects,  also,  to  lead  the  pupil  to  raise  ques- 
tions and  set  problems.     This  is  particularly  true  of  history, 

1  For  an  example  of  this  procedure,  see  Appendix  C,  p.  4 2  if. 


282  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

the  social  sciences,  and  literature.  In  history,  for  example, 
two  different  kinds  of  problems  may  be  formulated  by  the 
pupil.  He  may  ask  a  question  which  raises  a  problem  as  it 
existed  for  the  people  of  whom  he  is  studying,  or  he  may  ask  a 
question  that  embodies  a  problem  for  him.  Examples  of  prob- 
lems of  the  first  type  are  the  following, — "The  Greeks  grew 
olives  from  which  they  made  oil;  grapes  from  which  they  made 
wine.  They  needed  wheat,  but  they  did  not  produce  it.  What 
were  they  to  do?"  "Fabius  could  not  meet  Hannibal  success- 
fully in  open  battle.  What  kind  of  strategy  could  he  follow 
under  such  circumstances? "  Examples  of  problems  of  the 
second  type  are, — "Why  is  it  that  sailors  and  traders  make 
more  progress  than  do  agricultural  people?"  "What  nations 
today  owe  their  expansion  to  the  necessities  of  trade?"  "Can 
a  small  state  develop  a  better  civilization  than  a  large  state?" 
It  should  be  observed  in  passing  that  pupils  in  submitting  ques- 
tions of  the  second  type  should  be  taught  to  frame  problem 
questions  that  are  actually  problems  for  them,  and  not  merely 
problems  in  form,  or  questions  the  definite  answers  to  which 
they  already  know.  The  pupil  who  asked  the  question  concern- 
ing sailors  and  farmers  doubtless  knew  the  answer  before  the 
question  was  framed. 

As  has  already  been  said,  the  learner  must  not  only  have  the 
problem  before  him  clearly  envisaged,  he  must  further  keep  it  in 
mind.  Every  step  of  his  procedure  in  its  solution  must  relate 
itself  to  the  meaning  of  the  problem.  For  this  reason  thought 
is  very  largely  a  matter  of  active  attention.  He  who  solves  tiie 
problem,  must  constantly  have  an  eye  on  the  goal.  In  doin.3 
this  two  desirable  results  will  be  accomplished.  In  the  firs; 
place,  mere  attention  to  the  problem  tends  to  suggest  methods 
of  solution.  It  is  a  law  of  mental  activity  that  concentration 
of  attention  on  an  idea  brings  up  various  related  ideas.  To 
an  extent  a  difficulty  works  itself  out  if  once  the  mind  carefully 
considers  the  difficulty  and  constantly  holds  it  before  itself.    It 


THE  METHODS   OF   THE   CLASS   PERIOD  283 

is  a  common  experience  that  when  we  begin  to  think  about 
something,  all  sorts  of  relationships  are  discovered  that 
before  were  unsuspected.  All  things  are  fish  for  the  mental 
net. 

In  the  second  place,  active  attention  directed  toward  the 
problem  under  consideration  will  tend  to  exclude  from  con- 
sideration all  irrelevant  ideas  that  may  arise.  The  skilful 
teacher  says  to  the  pupil, — "What  is  your  problem?  Does 
this  fact  fit  into  what  you  are  trying  to  show?  If  it  does,  select 
it;  if  it  does  not,  discard  it." 

Sometimes  the  relation  of  ideas  to  the  main  problem  takes  the  form 
of  the  subsumption  of  particulars  under  a  general  rule  or  principle. 
This  is  a  common  form  of  problem-solving  in  language.  The  teacher 
of  Latin,  for  example,  is  constantly  asking  such  questions  as  these, — 
"What  is  the  future  passive  tense  of  rego:  the  future  passive  participle 
of  capioV1  Here  the  object  of  such  questions  is  to  accustom  the 
pupil  to  give  the  particular  form  its  appropriate  ending  not  in  terms 
of  some  specific  instance  remembered,  but  in  terms  of  a  general  prin- 
ciple relating  to  the  paradigms  of  the  third  conjugation  verbs.  The 
importance  of  relating  the  particular  to  the  general  and  the  general 
to  the  particular  will  be  discussed  more  in  detail  later.  It  applies, 
clearly,  to  every  subject  of  instruction,  although  the  most  frequent 
examples  are  found  in  the  sciences  and  the  languages. 

Another  kind  of  thought  relation  of  a  less  rigorous  nature  is  met 
with  frequently,  particularly  in  history  and  literature.  It  may  be 
described  as  the  connection  of  a  fact  of  knowledge  with  some  co- 
ordinate fact  of  knowledge.  An  observer  of  a  high  school  class  gives 
a  common  example  of  this  as  follows, — "In  Miss 's  class  in  his- 
tory one  pupil  asked  the  question  whether  Charles  V.  of  Spain  was 
the  same  person  as  Charles  VIII.  of  France.  A  comparison  of  dates 
showed  the  pupil  that  the  latter  died  before  the  former  was 
born.  This  type  of  reasoning  through  the  comparison  of  facts 
is  identical  with  using  common  sense;  some  people,  many  peo- 
ple, must  be  trained  to  exercise  this  most  simple  of  rational 
processes. " 


284  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

(e)  Correct  thinking  requires  selection  and  analysis  of  those 
facts  and  ideas  that  relate  to  the  problem  that  is  before  the  learner. — 
For  accurate  thinking  it  is  necessary  not  only  that  the  pupil 
clearly  understand  and  keep  in  attention  the  problem  to  be 
solved,  but  that  he  further  critically  analyze  in  terms  of  his 
problem  those  suggestions  that  tend  to  arise  in  regard  to  it. 
Here  the  teacher  has  a  most  important  function  to  perform. 
The  novice  in  thinking  cannot  be  left  entirely  to  his  own  devices 
in  criticising  and  evaluating  the  ideas  that  present  themselves. 
Unless  he  is  particularly  capable  he  will  get  nowhere,  if  he  is 
not  guided  in  his  mental  processes.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
teacher  may  go  too  far  and  help  the  pupil  too  much.  Obviously 
pupils  differ  greatly  in  their  ability  to  do  independent  thinking, 
and  the  teacher  must  to  a  large  extent  consider  pupils  as  indi- 
viduals, with  individual  needs;  he  cannot  hope  to  adapt  his 
instruction  in  this  particular  to  the  capacities  of  the  class  as  a 
whole,  if  such  a  class  is  not  selected  on  the  basis  of  ability. 
Unfortunately  this  arrangement  is  rare  in  the  typical  high  school 
class.  For  this  reason,  teaching  pupils  to  think  is  largely  a 
matter  that  should  be  left  to  periods  of  supervised  study,  if 
such  periods  exist  in  the  school. 

Selection  and  analysis  of  materials  relating  to  a  problem,  or  to  a 
topic  of  study  are  necessary  in  all  subjects  of  instruction.  Courses 
that  require  more  than  mere  rote  memory,  and  most  courses  do,  de- 
mand discriminating  judgment.  For  example,  in  algebra  miscel- 
laneous exercises  in  factoring  require  that  the  pupil  discover  the 
particular  method  that  applies  to  each  example.  Various  means  will 
suggest  themselves,  and  the  correct  procedure  must  be  determined 
before  the  work  can  be  accurately  done.  In  the  assignment  of  such  a 
lesson  the  teacher  can  with  advantage  call  the  attention  of  the  class 
to  the  methods  that  have  already  been  mastered;  this  is  the  first  step. 
Then  the  teacher  will  point  out  to  the  pupils  the  fact  that  the  various 
examples  must  be  studied  to  discover  under  what  cases  of  factoring 
they  appear  to  belong.    Perhaps  at  this  point  certain  suggestions  will 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD  285 

be  asked  for  from  the  class.  However,  care  should  be  taken  not  to 
tell  the  pupils  just  how  to  do  each  particular  example;  otherwise  the 
entire  value  of  the  exercise  as  a  training  in  analytical  reasoning  is  lost. 
In  this  case,  as  in  all  others  of  a  similar  nature,  the  teacher  should 
go  no  further  than  to  suggest  possibilities  from  which  the  individual 
members  of  the  class  must  select  the  appropriate  method.  Those 
who  lack  skill  and  ability  to  do  the  work  after  such  suggestions  have 
been  made,  should  be  instructed  singly.  In  discussing  this  question, 
Judd  says: — "It  is  a  fundamental  mistake  to  give  to  students  all  of 
the  examples  under  a  given  principle  with  a  definite  statement  to  the 
effect  that  all  of  these  are  examples  of  a  single  type.  The  student 
fails  to  get  the  mental  training  in  this  case  which  is  desired.  He 
merely  cultivates  a  kind  of  dexterity  of  manipulation  which  is  very 
far  from  a  genuine  application  of  a  scientific  principle." 

The  principles  that  have  been  brought  out  in  discussing  factoring 
in  algebra,  clearly  apply  to  other  miscellaneous  exercises  in  algebra; 
they  further  apply  to  original  work  in  geometry,  and  to  all  other 
mathematical  exercises  of  the  same  type,  whether  pure  or  applied. 
In  science  a  similar  situation  confronts  the  teacher  when  an  experi- 
ment is  to  be  performed  in  which  a  certain  result  is  desired,  but  in 
which  the  exact  method  of  reaching  it  is  not  known  to  the  pupil. 
Various  ways  in  which  similar  results  have  been  accomplished  in  the 
past  must  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  class,  and  they  must 
select  the  proper  method  themselves,  and  test  it  out.  Unfortunately 
in  the  teaching  of  laboratory  science  in  most  high  schools,  what  may 
be  termed  "original  experiments"  are  seldom  given.  In  this  respect 
there  is  a  resemblance  between  the  formal  methods  of  teaching 
geometry,  and  of  teaching  the  sciences  of  physics  and  chemistry. 
There  should  be  more  originals  in  geometry,  if  its  teaching  is  to  be 
justified;  there  should  be  less  formal  work  in  science,  and  more  actual 
investigation  on  the  part  of  the  pupils. 

In  the  teaching  of  language,  selective  thinking  is  not  of  such  a 
rigorous  type  as  in  mathematics  and  the  sciences,  but  it  is  a  neces- 
sary part  of  all  instruction  except  that  of  the  purely  informational 
and  habit-forming  type.  Both  in  translation  and  in  composition 
numerous  instances  occur  in  which  discrimination  and  analysis  are 
required.    Similarly  in  history  and  literature,  any  teaching  that  goes 


286  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

beyond  the  mere  emphasis  on  memory  and  drill  on  facts,  involves  a 
thought  process  that  has  in  it  the  same  essential  characteristics  that 
are  required  in  solving  a  problem  in  mathematics  or  in  performing 
an  investigation  in  science.  A  particular  illustration  of  this  is  found 
in  the  attempt  to  teach  the  study  of  history  by  topics,  and  sub-topics. 
The  majority  of  pupils  coming  from  the  elementary  school  have  a 
very  vague  idea  of  how  to  read  history  and  general  literature  with 
an  intelligent  comprehension  of  their  significance.  Either  they  at- 
tempt to  commit  the  entire  assignment  to  memory  in  a  mechanical 
way,  or  they  in  a  haphazard  manner  recall  the  materials  most  interest- 
ing to  them,  without  regard  to  their  real  values.  These  pupils  must 
be  taught  how  to  study  with  intelligent  discrimination. 

One  favorite  means  employed  by  many  high  school  teachers  in  the 
accomplishment  of  this  end  is  the  development  of  the  outline.  Here 
again  the  instructor  may  do  too  much,  as  well  as  too  little.  Those 
teachers  who  spend  a  large  amount  of  time  in  dictating  outlines  to  the 
class  to  be  employed  in  the  study  of  assigned  topics  err,  as  has  already 
been  said,  in  using  the  class  period  for  work  that  gets  comparatively 
small  returns  in  real  mental  activity.  Further,  if  the  instructor  does 
this  work  for  the  class,  he  fails  to  develop  their  ability  to  think  for 
themselves.  The  pupil  learns  to  rely  on  the  teacher  to  work  out  his 
problems  for  him.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  teacher  does  none  of  the 
work,  and  throws  the  class  entirely  on  its  own  responsibility,  a  large 
number  of  the  pupils  will  never  develop  the  ability  to  outline  the 
work  for  themselves.  Hence,  a  compromise  method  is  necessary. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  course  the  teacher  must  suggest  topics  and 
sub-topics.  Gradually,  however,  he  must  throw  the  responsibility 
of  this  work  on  the  individual  members  of  the  class.  Some  of  the 
outlining  may  be  done  by  the  class  as  a  whole  in  a  cooperative  lesson. 
However,  in  this  case  care  must  be  taken  that  the  actual  thinking 
is  not  confined  to  the  most  capable  individuals.  The  less  gifted  pupils, 
in  terms  of  their  abilities,  must  do  their  own  work. 

In  the  newer  subjects  of  the  curriculum  selective  thinking  is  not 
so  obviously  employed,  as  in  the  studies  of  the  more  "academic  type." 
Nevertheless,  it  finds  a  place  even  here.  In  the  commercial  courses 
there  are  rules  and  principles  of  procedure  that  demand  the  exercise 
of  discriminative  judgment.     Stenography,  in  particular,  requires 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       287 

mental  processes  that  are  similar  in  many  respects  to  those  that  are 
found  in  the  study  of  a  foreign  language.  In  the  manual  training 
and  household  arts  courses  much  depends  on  the  skill  of  the  hands, 
but  to  be  merely  "finger  wise"  is  not  enough. 

In  discussing  the  problem  of  the  organization  of  the  materials 
of  thinking,  Parker  *  offers  several  practical  suggestions  which 
we  can  to  advantage  keep  in  mind.  He  says, — "To  stimulate 
and  assist  pupils  in  carrying  on  reflective  thinking  the  teacher 
should: 

I.  Get  them  to  define  the  problem  at  issue  and  keep  it 

clearly  in  mind. 
II.  Get  them  to  recall  as  many  related  ideas  as  possible  by 
encouraging  them: 

1.  To  analyze  the  situation. 

2.  To  formulate  definite  hypotheses  and  to  recall 
general  rules  or  principles  that  may  apply. 

in.  Get  them  to  evaluate  carefully  each  suggestion  by  en- 
encouraging  them: 

1.  To  maintain  an  attitude  of  unbiased,  suspended 
judgment  or  conclusion. 

2.  To  criticise  each  suggestion. 

3.  To  be  systematic  in  selecting  and  rejecting  sugges- 
tions, and: 

4.  To  verify  conclusions. 

IV.  Get  them  to  organize  their  material  so  as  to  aid  in  the 
process  of  thinking  by  encouraging  them : 

1.  To  "take  stock"  from  time  to  time. 

2.  To  use  methods  of  tabulation  and  graphic  expres- 
sion, and: 

3.  To    express   concisely    the    tentative    conclusions 
reached  from  time  to  time  during  the  inquiry." 

1  Op.  cit.,  pp.  199-200. 


288  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

Of  these  principles  set  forth  by  Parker  we  have  already  dis- 
cussed some  in  the  preceding  pages  of  this  chapter.  Others 
will  be  touched  upon  later. 

Induction  and  Deduction  the  two  Fundamental  Forms  of 
Reasoning. — In  most  discussions  of  thinking  and  of  the  rational 
processes  a  careful  distinction  is  made  between  inductive  and 
deductive  methods  of  handling  individual  instances  and  bring- 
ing them  under  general  principles.  For  purposes  of  emphasis 
these  processes  are  treated  as  quite  separate,  and  sometimes 
they  are  set  over  against  each  other  as  if  there  were  some  funda- 
mental antagonism  between  them.  As  a  matter  of  fact  these 
two  processes  are  simply  different  aspects  of  the  same  funda- 
mental tendency  of  the  human  mind,  which  may  be  stated  as 
follows:  When  any  new  fact  is  presented,  or  any  situation  exists 
that  is  in  any  way  novel,  there  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  the 
human  individual  to  treat  this  new  fact,  or  react  to  this  novel  situa- 
tion in  terms  of  past  experience, — which  past  experience  assumes 
the  function  of  a  general  principle  of  procedure  in  all  similar  cases. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  a  principle  of  procedure  is  presented,  the 
human  individual  has  the  tendency  to  envisage  this  general  prin- 
ciple in  terms  of  concrete  examples.  In  other  words,  it  is  a  ten- 
dency of  the  human  mind  to  find  the  general  in  the  particular 
and  the  particular  in  the  general.  Sometimes  the  identification 
of  the  particular  instance  with  a  general  principle,  and  the  op- 
posite is  made  so  readily  that  it  approximates  pure  habit,  and 
in  such  cases  the  thought  process  is  reduced  to  a  minimum; 
sometimes  such  identification  is  laborious  and  time-consuming, 
in  which  case  elaborate  thought  processes  are  in  evidence.  The 
identification  of  the  particular  instance  as  an  example  of  a 
general  principle,  and  the  envisagement  of  the  general  principle 
in  terms  of  a  particular  instance  are  both  illustrations  of  the 
conceptual  process.  Such  a  method  of  thinking  is  clearly  a 
matter  of  mental  economy.  The  particular  instance,  as  a  mere 
instance,  is  without  significance,  and  possesses  little  value  either 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       289 


for  thought  or  behavior;  on  the  other  hand,  the  mere  knowledge 
of  a  general  principle  (if  indeed  it  can  be  called  knowledge  under 
such  circumstances)  is  barren.  Since  this  is  true,  every  teacher 
should  aim  in  his  instruction  to  give  meaning  to  particular  in- 
stances by  showing  their  general  bearings,  and  to  make  concrete 
and  definite  all  general  principles  through  clear-cut  and  definite 
illustrative  examples. 

The  conceptual  process,  which  as  we  have  seen  consists  essen- 
tially in  the  identification  of  the  particular  with  the  general, 
when  expanded  develops  into  a  definite  rational  procedure. 
On  the  one  hand,  when  a  particular  instance  arises  the  meaning 
of  which  is  not  clear,  and  when  the  learner  by  comparison  of 
this  with  other  similar  instances  finally  arrives  at  some  com- 
prehensive principle  that  explains  and  identifies  it,  such  a  process 
is  induction.  Often  the  general  principle  may  be  known,  but 
not  identified  with  the  particular  fact;  sometimes,  however, 
the  general  principle  has  to  be  discovered.  In  the  former  case 
we  have  the  mere  identification  and  relation  of  facts  already 
known;  in  the  latter,  an  actual  addition  to  knowledge.  Ob- 
viously the  great  scientific  inductions  are  of  this  second  type. 

An  example  of  the  identification  of  a  particular  instance  under  a 
principle  already  known,  but  not  at  once  apparent,  is  illustrated  by 
the  following  instance  cited  from  an  observation  in  a  high  school 

class  in  literature:  "Yesterday  I  visited  the  class  of  Mr.  J ,  who 

was  teaching  Macbeth,"  writes  the  observer,  "and  I  was  interested 
to  note  that  he  was  trying  to  do  something  more  than  to  teach  the 
pupils  mere  facts;  he  was  trying  to  make  them  think  and  feel.  One 
thing  that  he  aimed  to  do,  and  it  seemed  to  me  actually  succeeded 
in  doing,  was  to  make  them  comprehend  the  meaning  of  the  l  knock- 
ing at  the  gate.'  I  believe  he  accomplished  this  better, — that  is, 
made  his  class  really  get  some  genuine  understanding  of  this  dramatic 
situation  and  some  feeling  for  it, — than  did  our  college  instructor, 
in  the  class  of  which  I  was  a  member.  Our  instructor  talked  a  long 
time  about  this  scene,  referred  us  to  various  commentators,  and  gave 


290  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

us  a  fund  of  information,  but  I  never  actually  appreciated  the  true 

significance  of  the  situation  until  yesterday,  when  I  visited  Mr.  J 's 

class.    This  is  how  Mr.  J got  at  the  vital  meaning  of  the  scene: 

"A  boy  was  called  upon  to  read  the  passage  and  he  did  it  effec- 
tively. I  think  he  was  chosen  by  the  teacher  because  he  could  read 
well.  'How  does  that  scene  make  you  feel'?  asked  the  instructor. 
One  member  of  the  class  thought  it  was  'funny/  and  some  others 
agreed.  A  bright  girl  said  that  it  was  too  serious  to  be  merely  funny. 
It  made  her  feel  as  if  something  was  going  to  happen.  Others  were 
also  of  the  same  opinion,  but  no  one  could  quite  tell  why  it  seemed 
terrible,  as  well  as  'funny.' 

"I  concluded  at  this  point  in  the  lesson  that  nothing  further  could 
be  obtained  from  the  class  in  regard  to  the  significance  of  the  scene, 
but  the  instructor  was  resourceful.  He  related  an  instance  of  two 
men  remote  from  civilization,  lifelong  friends  and  companions;  of 
the  temptation,  greed,  and  treachery  of  the  one,  who  deserted  the 
other  and  intentionally  left  him  to  die  because  of  the  desire  to  secure 
the  entire  right  in  a  rich  mining  claim  that  they  had  found.  All  went 
well  with  the  wrong-doer  until  he  returned  to  his  own  city.  Here 
for  the  first  time  he  realized  what  he  had  done,  and  although  there 
was  no  fear  of  detection  or  punishment  for  his  crime,  his  conscience, 
awakened  by  coming  back  to  his  home,  would  never  give  him  a 
moment's  peace;  yet  when  he  was  remote  from  acquaintances,  friends, 
and  associates,  in  a  wild  country  where  he  knew  few  people  and  had 
little  regard  for  them,  his  evil  deed  had  not  seemed  evil  to  him. 

"By  means  of  this  incident,  and  several  others  of  a  similar  nature, 
the  class  were  led  to  see  that  the  world  in  which  we  live  sets  the 
standard  for  our  acts  and  holds  us  accountable  for  them.  When  we 
are  remote  from  this  world,  when  we  are  by  ourselves,  we  may  be 
overcome  by  our  own  selfish  interests,  forget  our  accountability,  and 
lose  our  distinctions  between  right  and  wrong.  When,  however,  we 
come  back  to  this  world,  or  as  in  the  case  of  the  'knocking  at  the 
gate'  this  world  comes  to  us,  then  arrives  for  us  the  real  tragic  situa- 
tion. 

"It  should  be  said  that  this  principle  of  human  thought  and 
feeling  was  not  stated  in  the  abstract  manner  in  which  I  have  pre- 
sented it,  but  this  was  the  general  purport  of  the  discussion.    The 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       29 1 

point  that  impressed  me  was  that  the  class  were  led  to  discover  the 
significance  of  the  scene  themselves  by  a  process  of  inductive  reason- 
ing in  which  several  particular  instances  ingeniously  selected  by  the 
teacher,  were  made  the  basis  of  a  generalization.  In  a  vague  way 
the  class  knew  this  general  principle,  but  in  this  lesson  it  was  raised 
from  the  twilight  of  subconscious  feeling  to  the  clear  light  of  definite 
awareness.  This  part  of  the  lesson  occupied  fifteen  minutes.  To 
some  it  might  appear  a  waste  of  time,  but  I  think  that  it  was  worth 
while.  It  had  given  to  many  of  the  pupils  a  taste  of  appreciative 
criticism  of  a  great  work  of  art;  it  had  framed  in  concrete  terms  a 
fundamental  moral  law,  and  it  had  afforded  as  excellent  a  training  in 
rational  procedure  as  I  have  witnessed  in  any  class  in  the  high  school, 
that  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  observe.  Indeed,  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  much  of  the  instruction  in  mathematics  and  science  falls  far 
below  this  particular  lesson  in  English  as  a  training  in  inductive 
reasoning." 

In  rigorous  scientific  reasoning  the  inductive  process  at  times 
leads  to  the  discovery  of  new  and  important  laws  and  facts 
that  before  were  unknown.  When  this  principle  of  thought  is 
applied  to  classroom  instruction,  it  has  sometimes  been  called 
the  "Method  of  Discovery."  Of  this  method  Thorndike x 
says: — "  Children  are  never  left  to  discover  the  sciences  and 
arts  as  they  were  originally  discovered.  They  are  always  given 
advantageous  knowledge  and  help  in  seeing  what  the  problem 
is.  But,  even  with  these  modifications,  the  requirement  that 
pupils  actually  rediscover  facts  is  still  absurd.  ...  Of  course, 
save  for  the  few  individuals  of  great  gifts,  they  do  not,  no 
matter  what  we  pretend,  rediscover  important  facts.  .  .  .  The 
method  of  discovery  at  its  best  is,  in  fact,  a  very  bad  title  for 
methods  in  which  the  pupil  is  left  to  his  own  efforts  so  far  as 
he  can  be  without  too  serious  detriment  to  the  quantity  and 
quality  of  the  information  and  skill  that  he  gets.  ...  At  its 
worst,  the  method  of  discovery  is  a  name  for  pretense  that  the 

1  Education,  pp.  195-196  (191 2). 


292  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

child  is  cultivating  powers  of  originality  and  self-reliant  inves- 
tigation, while  at  the  same  time  the  facts  are  being  smuggled 
into  his  possession  as  truly  as  in  straightforward  'telling.'" 

While  it  is  true  that  pupils,  even  those  of  the  high  school  age, 
seldom  discover  for  themselves  unaided  any  truth  of  importance, 
and  while  such  truths  even  if  discovered  by  them,  have  pre- 
viously been  reached  by  others,  nevertheless,  in  a  halting  and 
imperfect  way  many  pupils  may  employ  inductive  processes 
of  thought  and  may  get  some  insight  into  what  scientific  rigor 
and  scientific  methods  mean.  If  they  acquire  little  more  than 
an  attitude  of  examining  facts  and  employing  caution  in  arriv- 
ing at  conclusions,  this  is  surely  worth  while. 

An  example  of  the  method  of  scientific  discovery  as  employed  at 
times  in  high  school  instruction  is  found  in  the  following  class  exercise 
in  physics.  The  aim  of  the  lesson  is  to  give  the  class  knowledge  in 
regard  to  certain  facts  concerning  magnetism.  In  this  particular 
instance  the  teacher  has  not  assigned  to  the  class  a  lesson  in  a  text 
that  tells  about  these  facts,  neither  has  he  informed  the  class  con- 
cerning them.  Of  course,  one  of  these  methods  would  be  the  most 
direct  and  economical  way  of  arriving  at  the  result,  if  all  that  was  de- 
sired was  to  impress  for  a  brief  time  these  facts  on  the  minds  of  the 
learners.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  instructor,  however,  to  help  the 
pupils  think  for  themselves,  and  further  to  impress  as  emphatically 
as  possible  on  the  minds  of  his  pupils  those  matters  which  he  con- 
siders important  in  the  topic  on  magnetism.  Hence,  under  his  direc- 
tion, the  instructor  attempts  to  lead  the  pupils  to  a  discovery  of  these 
facts.  The  method  that  is  used  is  first  to  present  in  a  clear  and  em- 
phatic manner  several  instances  of  the  facts  that  he  wishes  the  class 
to  discover;  second,  to  lead  the  pupils  to  analyze  and  compare  the 
individual  instances  in  such  a  manner  that  the  important  element  in 
these  instances  will  stand  out  and  become  evident  to  all;  third,  to 
have  them  state  definitely  just  what  this  element  is.  For  example, 
one  of  the  specific  matters  to  be  taught  in  this  lesson  is  that  the  mag- 
netic needle  points  north  and  south,  and  when  set  in  motion,  tends 
to  come  to  rest  in  that  position.    This  simple  fact  could,  of  course, 


THE  METHODS   OF  THE   CLASS   PERIOD  293 

easily  be  told  in  a  few  words,  and  demonstrated  in  a  brief  time.  Per- 
haps two  or  three  minutes  would  be  sufficient  to  do  this.  The  in- 
structor, however,  employs  nearly  a  third  of  the  class  period  in  lead- 
ing the  pupils  to  find  out  and  definitely  formulate  this  fact.  On  his 
table  are  six  standards,  and  attached  to  each  of  these,  swinging  freely, 
is  a  magnetic  needle  of  such  size  as  to  be  seen  easily  by  all  members 
of  the  class.  These  needles  are  all  set  in  motion,  and  the  class  is  asked 
to  observe  what  happens  when  they  come  to  rest.  It  takes  some  time, 
and  some  ingenuity  on  the  part  of  the  instructor  to  lead  the  class  to 
see  the  simple  fact  that  when  they  are  at  rest  they  all  point  in  the 
same  direction.  Further  time  is  consumed  in  discovering  that  the 
direction  is  north  and  south,  and  additional  time  in  verifying  the 
observations  by  subsequent  experiments.  This  part  of  the  lesson 
concludes  with  a  consideration  of  the  practical  significance  of  this 
fact  and  its  value  in  daily  life.1 

At  times  the  inductive  processes  of  reasoning  are  directed 
not  toward  the  formulation  of  scientific  principles,  but  rather 
toward  the  awakening  of  fundamental  attitudes,  feelings,  and 
interest.  In  such  cases,  the  result  is  what  may  be  termed  an 
"appreciative  judgment." 

As  an  example  of  the  judgment  of  this  type,  the  following  instance 
may  be  cited:  In  a  large  class  in  first  year  English  in  a  city  high  school, 
the  pupils  were  reading  Bullfinch's  Age  of  Fable.  They  showed  great 
interest  in  the  narrative  as  a  whole.  One  boy,  however,  remarked 
that  he  wished  that  the  class  might  not  be  compelled  to  read  poetry. 
He  said  that  he  did  not  like  poetry,  and  there  seemed  to  be  a  general 
agreement  on  the  part  of  the  rest  of  the  class  that  poetry  was  dull 
and  uninteresting.  "Tell  me,"  said  the  teacher,  "the  name  of  some 
poem  that  you  remember."  The  boy  thought  for  a  moment,  and  then 
answered:  "Old  Ironsides."  "Ah,"  said  the  teacher,  "Old  Ironsides 
at  anchor  lay,"  and  so  on,  repeating  some  of  the  most  stirring  lines 
of  the  poem.  "Is  there  not  another  boy  who  can  remember  the 
name  of  a  poem?"  he  next  asked.  Several  hands  were  raised,  and 
Sheridan's  Ride,  The  Chambered  Nautilus,  The  Village  Blacksmith, 

1  For  further  examples  of  inductive  reasoning  see  Appendix  C,  p.  4  i8f . 


294  INTRODUCTION  TO   HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

and  Curfew  Shall  Not  Ring  To-night  were  mentioned.  In  each  in- 
stance, the  teacher  quoted  brief  passages  from  these  poems,  and 
brought  out  their  most  stirring  qualities.  The  next  ten  minutes  of 
the  recitation  period  were  spent  in  a  similar  manner.  Over  fifty 
poems  were  mentioned,  and  all  were  eager  to  make  suggestions.  It 
was  because  of  lack  of  time,  rather  than  lack  of  interest  that  the 
teacher  was  compelled  to  turn  to  other  aspects  of  the  work.  He  con- 
cluded this  part  of  his  instruction  with  the  remark:  "I  see  that  you 
boys  do  not  care  for  poetry. "  "Yes,  we  do!"  said  half  a  dozen  in 
chorus,  while  the  rest  nodded  their  approval.1 

1  The  aim  of  the  lesson  outlined  on  pp.  426-429  of  Appendix  C  is  in 
part  to  develop  appreciative  judgments. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD — ADDING  NEW  KNOWLEDGE 
THROUGH  THE  INDUCTIVE  AND  DEDUCTIVE  DEVELOPMENT 
LESSON 

The  Five  Formal  Steps  of  Instruction. — In  the  history  of 
educational  method,  the  "inductive  development  lesson,"  as 
it  has  been  termed,  occupies  an  important  place.  It  finds  its 
best  exemplification  in  the  "five  formal  steps"  of  the  Herbar- 
tians.  These  five  steps  are:  (i)  Preparation,  with  statement  of 
the  aim  of  the  lesson.  (2)  Presentation.  (3)  Comparison  and 
Abstraction.  (4.7  Generalization.  (5)  Application.  Although 
the  methodology  in  connection  with  this  device  has  been  ap- 
plied principally  to  the  elementary  school,  it  can  be  used  with 
certain  adaptations  to  advantage  in  high  school  instruction. 

The  Principles  of  these  Five  Formal  Steps  may  be  Applied 
in  a  Modified  Form  to  High  School  Instruction. — (a)  It  is 
true  of  all  grades  of  instruction  that  the  mind  of  the  learner  should 
be  prepared  in  advance  to  receive  the  new  material  that  is  to  be  pre- 
sented.— Surely  the  high  school  teacher  should  see  to  it  that  the 
members  of  his  class  have  the  mental  background  to  compre- 
hend a  new  principle  in  algebra,  a  new  formula  in  chemistry,  a 
new  construction  in  Latin,  or  a  new  set  of  facts  in  history.  His 
pupils  cannot  think  economically  and  profitably  unless  they 
have  the  necessary  knowledge  and  comprehension  to  do  such 
thinking.  Every  teacher  should  adopt  as  an  important  rule 
of  procedure, — Prepare  the  pupil  for  all  new  material  that  is 
to  be  presented  to  him. 

(b)  //  is  equally  necessary  for  the  pupil  of  whatever  grade  to 
know  the  main  aims  of  the  recitation  period. — There  are,  or  should 

29s 


296  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

be,  certain  objectives  in  each  class  exercise,  and  in  any  lesson 
of  the  thought  type  it  is  necessary  for  the  learner  to  have  be- 
fore him  the  chief  problems  involved.  "Today,"  the  teacher 
of  physics  tells  his  class,  "we  are  going  to  take  up  certain  facts 
in  regard  to  the  transmission  of  heat,  and  attempt  to  formulate 
the  various  ways  in  which  this  transmission  may  take  place." 
"The  main  points  that  we  shall  emphasize  in  this  lesson  in  the 
Sketch  Book"  the  teacher  of  English  informs  his  pupils,  "are 
Washington  Irving's  humor,  and  his  love  for  country  life.  I 
want  you  to  notice  carefully  all  those  passages  that  seem  humor- 
ous to  you,  and  to  decide  what  makes  them  humorous.  I  want 
you  likewise  to  observe  Irving's  descriptions  of  rural  scenes  and 
customs,  and  decide  as  well  as  you  can  what  qualities  make  these 
descriptions  so  striking."  "Keep  in  mind  during  this  hour," 
says  the  teacher  of  German,  "the  use  of  the  prepositions  in 
the  exercises  that  you  translate.  I  want  you  to  note  particularly 
what  prepositions  govern  the  accusative  and  dative  cases,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  hour  I  shall  expect  you  to  give  me  a  rule  based 
on  what  you  have  observed."  So  it  should  be  in  each  and  every 
recitation  that  seeks  to  do  more  than  merely  to  test  for  knowl- 
edge and  to  drill.  Call  to  the  attention  of  the  pupil  the  goal  at 
which  the  lesson  is  aiming,  and  insist  that  the  pupil  think  out 
the  essential  facts  and  principles  in  terms  of  this  goal. 

(c)  Facts  must  be  considered  in  their  relations. — The  pupil  must 
do  more  than  keep  in  mind  the  general  aim  of  the  lesson,  in 
order  to  marshal  properly  his  facts  and  give  them  significance. 
Facts  in  any  subject  when  presented  should  not  be  considered 
as  isolated  facts.  They  must  be  compared  with  facts  of  a  similar 
order  so  that  their  general  bearings  may  be  seen.  This  is  secured 
by  analysis  and  abstraction.  In  order  that  the  essential  ele- 
ments of  general  importance  may  appear  clearly  the  teacher 
must  assist  the  pupil  at  this  point  in  the  inductive  process. 
Thorndike  1  gives  several  important  suggestions  in  this  connec- 
1  Education,  pp.  174-175. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       297 

ion.  He  sums  up  methods  of  analysis  under  the  following 
laws:  (1)  Know  what  the  element  is  that  the  pupil  is  to  be  able 
to  respond  to,  and  what  response  he  is  to  make  to  it.  (2)  Dis- 
sociate the  element.  Do  not  expect  it  to  emerge  into  clear 
thought  of  itself.  (3)  When  it  is  possible,  present  the  element 
itself  before  presenting  the  gross  total  situations  in  which  it 
inheres.  When  the  element  cannot  exist  apart  from  concomit- 
ants,— (a)  Begin  with  cases  in  which  it  is  clear  and  impressive, 
(b)  Have  the  pupil  compare  these  with  attention  directed  toward 
their  elements,  (c)  Have  him  contrast  with  them  cases  similar, 
save  in  the  absence  of  the  element.  (4)  Provide  an  instructive 
name  for  the  element.  (5)  Have  the  pupil  respond  to  the  ele- 
ment in  new  situations. 

The  significance  of  these  laws  will  be  made  clearer  by  an  illustra- 
tion taken  from  the  field  of  high  school  instruction.  The  teacher  of 
German  is  attempting  by  the  inductive  method  to  impress  on  the 
minds  of  his  pupils  the  fact  that  the  preposition  in  is  followed  by  the 
dative  case  after  verbs  of  rest  and  by  the  accusative  case  after  verbs 
of  motion.  In  the  first  place  the  teacher  must  have  in  mind  just  what 
he  wishes  his  pupils  to  do.  Is  the  aim  merely  to  have  them  translate 
the  preposition  properly  when  they  meet  it  in  their  reading;  is  it  to 
have  them  use  it  in  written  composition;  in  oral  discourse;  is  it  all 
of  these  three?  It  is  clear  that  the  emphasis  will  be  somewhat  dif- 
ferent in  terms  of  these  different  aims.  In  one  instance  the  situation 
that  they  are  to  respond  to  is  the  reading  situation,  in  another  the 
writing  situation,  in  the  third  the  speaking  situation. 

When  the  teacher  has  decided  just  what  the  response  is  that  he 
wishes  the  class  to  make,  then  he  must  present  the  situation  in  such 
a  way  that  the  particular  fact  that  he  desires  to  impress  will  stand 
out  distinctly.  It  is  not  enough  that  instances  be  presented  in  which 
the  preposition  is  used;  it  must  be  dissociated  from  the  general  con- 
text so  that  it  will  be  clearly  recognized.  The  pupils  will  not  find 
out  the  principle  involved  if  left  entirely  to  their  own  resources.  Not 
only  should  the  teacher  make  the  principle  definite  and  clear  but  he 
should  present  it  as  free  as  possible  from  other  matter.    Hence  he 


298  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

will  call  the  attention  of  the  class  to  brief  sentences  which  illustrate 
what  he  wishes  to  emphasize,  rather  than  to  complicated  sentences 
in  which  many  other  facts  and  laws  appear  than  the  one  that  he  is 
trying  to  teach.  While  it  is  impossible  to  give  examples  that  do  not 
have  other  concomitants,  these  concomitants  can  be  made  relatively 
few  and  simple. 

To  make  the  instances  clear  and  impressive,  he  must  use  sentences 
with  verbs  that  obviously  express  either  motion  or  rest,  such  as: 
Ich  gehe  in  die  Stadt;  ich  laufe  in  das  Zimmer,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
ich  bleibe  in  der  Weite;  ich  ruhe  in  der  Hangematte,  on  the  other. 
Further,  the  pupil  must  compare  the  various  sentences,  with  particu- 
lar attention  to  the  meaning  of  the  verbs  used,  and  the  cases  of  the 
nouns  that  follow  the  preposition,  contrasting  carefully  the  cases  in 
which  a  verb  expressing  motion  is  used,  with  those  cases  in  which 
the  verb  expresses  rest.  When  this  is  done  the  class  should  be  able 
to  formulate  in  a  crude  way  the  general  rule,  after  which  it  should  be 
stated  with  exactness  and  given  a  definite  name  by  which  it  may  sub- 
sequently be  referred  to. 

Finally,  it  is  extremely  important  that  the  facts  arrived  at  should 
be  put  into  use  by  the  pupil  as  soon  as  possible.  If  the  aim  is  to  secure 
correct  translation,  numerous  sentences  illustrating  the  principle 
should  be  provided.  The  practice  should  follow  immediately  after 
the  principle  is  formulated  and  definitely  stated.  If  the  aim  is  to 
teach  the  use  of  the  preposition  in  written  discourse,  then,  of  course, 
the  appropriate  exercises  should  be  at  hand.  In  a  similar  way,  if 
facility  in  conversation  is  the  aim  the  practice  should  take  this  form. 
In  any  instance  something  should  be  done  by  the  pupil. 

(d)  Generalizations  must  follow  from  comparisons. — Compari- 
son and  abstraction,  the  third  step  in  the  inductive  develop- 
ment lesson,  are  never  ends  in  themselves.  They  lead  to  the 
formulation  of  rules,  principles,  methods  of  procedure, — in  a 
word  to  generalizations,  the  fourth  step  of  the  inductive  process. 
Generalization  is  a  fundamental  tendency  of  the  human  mind. 
It  is  crude  and  inadequate  as  a  rule,  however.  The  teacher  can 
perform  no  more  important  service  for  the  pupil  than  to  habit- 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       299 


uate  him  in  forming  accurate  and  useful  generalizations.  The 
high  school  instructor  would  improve  the  quality  of  his  teach- 
ing if  he  would  frequently  ask  himself  this  question, — "What 
significant  principle,  what  important  rule,  what  comprehen- 
sive fact  have  I  worked  out  with  the  class  in  this  recitation?  " 

(e)  It  must  always  be  kept  in  mind  that  generalizations  are 
valuable  in  proportion  as  they  are  useful.  Hence,  they  must  be 
at  once  commandeered  into  service. — Application  is  essential  to 
complete  the  inductive  procedure.  This  is  the  fifth  and  final 
step.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  application  may  take  various 
forms,  all  of  which  are  important.  In  the  manual  training  and 
household  arts  courses,  a  method  of  procedure  is  taught  by  the 
instructor  and  then  the  learner  puts  it  into  use  by  actually 
making  something  in  which  this  method  is  employed;  in  mathe- 
matics the  rule  is  applied  in  the  solving  of  problems  and  the 
working  out  of  examples;  in  science  the  application  expresses 
itself  in  the  laboratory  technique;  in  language  it  is  shown  in 
accurate  translation,  correct  speech,  and  careful  composition; 
in  literature  and  history  in  the  interpretation  of  individual  in- 
stances in  terms  of  general  principles.   ^ 

It  is  further  to  be  remembered  that  application  is  important 
not  only  because  it  is  useful,  but  for  the  added  reason  that 
through  application  the  general  principle  is  made  more  definite 
and  certain.  It  is  only  through  use  that  meanings  are  acquired. 
As  McMurry  points  out,1  stopping  with  general  principles  may 
result  in  a  mere  verbal  mastery  of  a  subject.  This  application, 
he  urges,  should  follow  as  soon  as  possible  the  mastery  of  the 
general  principle.  In  the  professional  schools,  practical  courses 
are  always  connected  with  theory,  and  in  this  fact  lies  one  of 
the  chief  educational  advantages  of  such  schools.  In  the  ele- 
mentary school  and  the  high  school,  direct  and  immediate 
application  is  more  difficult,  yet  some  form  of  application  is 
necessary  even  here,  for  if  knowledge  and  skill  are  not  applied 
1  Op.  cit.y  Chapter  IX. 


300  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

as  far  as  possible  in  school,  there  inevitably  arises  a  divorce 
between  school  and  life.  This  is  sure  to  work  harm.  Of  course, 
this  application  need  not  always  be  "practical"  in  the  narrower 
sense  of  the  term,  but  the  application  to  be  most  effective  should 
in  some  way  relate  to  human  life  and  human  interests. 

In  the  High  School  it  is  Seldom  Possible  to  Employ  the 
Inductive  Development  Lesson  in  Detail,  and  with  Formal 
Rigor. — The  inductive  development  lesson,  as  we  have  already 
said,  has  been  worked  out  as  a  method  of  elementary  instruction, 
and  it  is  here  that  its  formal  application  is  most  in  evidence. 
Rarely  will  the  high  school  teacher  find  it  desirable  to  use  this 
method  in  all  of  its  phases  in  the  course  of  an  hour's  instruction. 
Nevertheless,  there  are  frequent  opportunities  when  various 
aspects  of  it  may  be  used  to  great  advantage.  The  following 
instances  of  its  partial  employment  will  illustrate  its  value: — 

In  a  class  in  physics  the  instructor  is  presenting  the  principle  of 
the  lever  for  the  first  time.  He  begins  by  showing  to  the  class  a  lever 
with  an  adjustable  fulcrum,  and  with  detachable  weights  at  each  end. 
Through  a  demonstration  of  the  apparatus,  and  by  comparison  of  the 
results  obtained  by  changing  the  position  of  the  fulcrum  and  the 
weights,  he  leads  the  class  to  formulate  for  themselves  the  most 
essential  principles  involved  in  the  operation  of  this  machine.  The 
last  ten  minutes  of  the  period  are  spent  in  testing  out  these  principles 
to  discover  whether  they  apply  to  further  cases.  In  the  following 
lesson  the  different  classes  of  levers  are  demonstrated  and  the  pupils 
led  to  distinguish  between  these  classes,  and  to  name  various  applica- 
tions of  these  three  classes  as  they  are  commonly  found  in  everyday 
tools  and  appliances,  such  as  the  balance,  the  crow-bar,  and  the  oar. 
Subsequently  the  knowledge  acquired  concerning  the  operation  of  the 
lever  is  used  as  a  preparatory  step  in  presenting  the  operation  of  the 
pulley. 

An  observer  reports  as  follows  concerning  a  class  in  geometry, — 
"The  remainder  of  the  recitation  was  spent  in  developing  the  lesson 
inductively.  The  class  had  just  begun  the  study  of  figures, — triangles, 
quadrilaterals,  etc.    In  the  place  of  having  them  learn  the  definition 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       301 

of  such  figures,  which  in  my  experience  is  the  common  practice,  the 
teacher  employed  this  ingenious  method  of  presenting  the  general 
facts  to  her  pupils  and  leading  them  to  see  for  themselves  the  essential 
principles  involved.  During  the  previous  recitation  she  had  directed 
her  pupils  to  cut  out  of  paper,  isosceles,  equilateral,  right,  and  scalene 
triangles;  quadrilaterals,  parallelograms,  rhomboids,  squares,  and 
similar  plane  figures.  These  were  not  named,  however,  or  their  prop- 
erties discussed  at  that  time.  The  work  was  simply  in  preparation 
for  what  was  to  follow  at  the  next  class  period.  On  this  day,  with  the 
aid  of  the  materials  previously  prepared,  the  class  were  comparing, 
contrasting,  and  classifying  the  various  kinds  of  plane  figures  that 
they  had  cut  out,  making  their  own  rules,  and  framing  their  own 
definitions  in  their  own  words.  They  were  next  led  to  judge  areas, 
cutting  the  paper  figures  when  necessary,  and  also  dividing  them  by 
folding  them,  or  marking  them  with  the  pencil.  I  was  impressed  with 
several  details  in  this  class.  In  the  first  place,  every  member  was 
attentive,  interested,  and  curious.  In  the  second  place,  all  seemed  to 
understand  what  the  lesson  was  about.  The  meaning  of  the  various 
plane  figures  seemed  evident  to  all.  And  in  the  third  place,  they 
were  eager  to  apply  the  knowledge  that  they  had  gained  in  various 
ways,  some  in  working  out  problems  in  regard  to  the  properties  of 
triangles,  polygons,  etc.,  and  others  in  finding  some  practical  ap- 
plication of  what  they  had  learned  to  matters  outside  of  the  class- 
room. On  the  whole,  these  lessons  that  I  attended  in  geometry 
seemed  to  me  to  be  the  most  worth-while  lessons  that  I  observed  in 
the  entire  school.  Generally,  as  I  have  observed  the  teaching  of 
geometry  in  other  high  schools,  and  other  classes,  I  could  not  say 
this." 

An  observer  of  a  class  in  history  writes, — "About  three-quarters 
of  the  whole  period  was  more  or  less  concerned  with  the  inductive 
development  of  thought.  The  facts  cited  were  brought  up  rather 
to  show  their  general  significance  than  to  impress  them  upon  the 
minds  of  the  pupils,  as  mere  facts.  The  discussion  centered  around 
the  Hundred  Years'  War.  The  instructor  started  with  some  simple 
idea  as  presented  by  some  member  of  the  class,  and  gradually  through 
question  and  answer  in  which  the  majority  of  the  class  participated, 
he  arrived  at  the  larger  thought  desired.    When  some  of  the  more 


302  INTRODUCTION   TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

general  principles  had  been  worked  out  and  stated,  the  class  were 
asked  to  point  out  how  these  principles  applied  to  the  Great  War. 
In  a  way  the  lesson  was  crude,  for  the  pupils  were  often  halting  and 
clumsy  in  their  expressions,  but  I  felt  that,  nevertheless,  they  got  a 
good  deal  out  of  the  recitation,  much  more,  I  believe,  than  if  they  had 
been  merely  told  the  facts,  or  had  read  them  in  a  book." 

The  Deductive  Development  Lesson;  the  Final  Step. — 

The  final  step  in  the  inductive  development  lesson  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  application.  This  step  in  itself  is  rather  of  the  na- 
ture of  deduction  than  induction.  When  this  step  is  amplified 
and  emphasized,  it  has  been  set  over  against  the  inductive 
lesson  of  which  it  is  the  natural  culmination,  and  has  been 
termed  the  deductive  development  lesson.  Like  the  inductive 
lesson,  it  calls  forth  thought  on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  and  brings 
the  general  principle  and  the  particular  instance  into  relation, 
so  that  each  may  be  better  understood.  Unlike  the  inductive 
lesson,  the  general  principle  is  not  arrived  at  by  the  learner 
wholly  or  partly  through  his  own  initiative.  This  principle  is 
stated  by  the  teacher  or  formulated  in  the  words  of  a  text- 
book. For  this  reason,  this  procedure  lacks  the  completeness 
that  the  inductive  lesson  possesses  when  it  is  followed  strictly 
through  the  five  formal  steps.  Further  there  is  a  danger  that  a 
general  principle  when  given  to  the  pupil  will  not  have  the  signif- 
icance that  it  should  possess,  and  which  will  of  necessity  attach 
to  it  when  this  principle  is  formulated  by  the  learner  himself. 

The  Deductive  Lesson  Possesses  Certain  Obvious  Ad- 
vantages over  the  Inductive  Lesson. — This  makes  its  use  often 
desirable,  and  sometimes  necessary. 

(a)  In  the  first  place,  the  inductive  process  is  often  long  and 
time-consuming. — There  is  seldom  time  during  the  ordinary 
class  period  to  carry  out  any  thorough-going  inductive  process. 
Adequately  to  develop  even  the  most  simple  principles  requires 
relatively  extensive  knowledge  and  careful  comparison  and 
analysis. 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       303 

(b)  In  the  second  place,  and  chiefly  for  the  reasons  just  spoken 
of,  there  is  slight  opportunity  for  the  learner  to  arrive  at  any  scien- 
tifically valid  inductions. — The  pupil  has  not  sufficient  facts 
at  his  command  to  justify  any  ultimate  conclusion.  What  ac- 
tually occurs  is  that  the  instructor  selects  carefully  the  most 
significant  facts  and  arranges  them  in  such  a  way  that  they 
suggest  the  conclusions  desired.  As  a  rule  he  takes  a  few  typical 
cases  and  leads  the  pupil  to  see  the  general  laws  embodied  in 
these  cases.  This  is  all  very  well,  and  entirely  justifiable  in 
itself.  There  is  a  danger,  however,  that  the  pupil  will  gain  the 
impression  that  in  actual  scientific  induction  the  process  is  as 
simple  and  direct  as  it  is  made  for  him  by  the  teacher.  *The 
pupil  must  not  be  habituated  in  forming  hasty  hypotheses  and 
"snap  judgments.' ' 

There  is  particular  danger  of  this  happening  in  such  a  subject  as 
history.  Sometimes  the  "thought  questions''  asked  cannot  pos- 
sibly be  answered  by  the  pupil  on  the  basis  of  any  genuine  thought  on 
his  part.  Often  they  are  merely  suggestive  questions,  the  answers  to 
which  are  obviously  given  in  the  form  in  which  they  are  stated  by  the 
teacher.  Neither  pupil  nor  teacher  should  deceive  himself  into  as- 
suming that  they  involve  genuine  reasoning  on  the  part  of  the  learner. 
Some  years  ago  a  series  of  texts  in  history  were  prepared  with  the 
purpose  of  leading  the  pupils  to  arrive  at  historical  principles  by 
considering  the  significance  of  certain  facts  presented  in  the  form  of 
original  sources.  The  pupils  were  to  read  these  fragments  selected 
from  various  quarters  and  then  make  general  conclusions  on  the 
basis  of  these  facts.  The  attempt  could  be  nothing  but  a  failure. 
Often  no  conclusions  of  any  scientific  worth  could  be  drawn  from 
the  materials  as  presented,  and  when  such  conclusions  could  be 
drawn,  they  were  for  the  most  part  suggested  directly  by  the  form 
in  which  the  questions,  framed  to  guide  the  pupil  in  his  study  of  these 
fragments,  were  stated. 

(c)  In  the  third  place,  and  for  reasons  brought  out  in  the  above 
discussion,  many  of  the  inductions  that  the  pupil  is  asked  to  make 


304  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

are  extremely  fragmentary  and  inconsequential, — They  lead  no- 
where in  the  larger  thought  development,  and  afford  no  funda- 
mental insights  into  the  wider  principles  involved.  Finally, 
there  are  many  principles  and  far-reaching  laws  that  have  been 
formulated  through  long  and  extended  research  and  analysis 
that  pupils  could  not  possibly  discover  for  themselves,  even 
under  the  most  skilful  direction  of  the  teacher.  It  may  be  urged 
that  such  general  principles  are  for  this  reason  beyond  the  com- 
prehension of  the  learner.  This,  however,  by  no  means  follows. 
The  human  race  has  received  from  its  men  of  genius  many  prin- 
ciples of  the  greatest  practical  importance  which  are  constantly 
being  applied;  yet  these  could  not  be  derived  by  the  majority 
who  use  them.  A  principle  to  have  meaning  must  be  applied; 
it  need  not  necessarily  be  derived  by  the  one  who  intelligently 
uses  it.  Obviously  this  statement  applies  to  laws  in  physics, 
formulae  in  chemistry,  rules  in  language,  and  so  on.  They 
must  be  furnished  to  the  pupil  because  he  requires  them,  if  he 
is  to  pursue  the  subjects  to  which  they  belong. 

Phases  of  the  Deductive  Development  Lesson. — Bagley  * 
has  divided  the  deductive  lesson  into  four  phases  or  steps; 
namely, — (i)  the  data,  (2)  the  principles,  (3)  the  inferences  or 
conclusions,  and  (4)  the  verification.  In  the  first  place  the 
teacher  recalls  to  the  mind  of  the  pupil  those  facts  that  are 
necessary  in  order  to  set  forth  the  general  principle  which  they 
illustrate.  Then  from  this  principle  certain  inferences  are  made 
as  to  facts  that  seem  to  be  true.  Finally,  the  pupil  is  required 
to  find  out  if  the  facts  that  appear  to  follow  from  the  general 
principle  actually  exist. 

An  illustration  of  the  deductive  process  as  outlined  above  is  found 
in  the  high  school  in  its  typical  form  in  such  a  subject  as  algebra  or 
geometry.  The  data,  as  Bagley  points  out,  consist  of  the  statement 
of  the  problem;  the  principles,  in  the  general  processes  and  rules  that 

1  The  Educative  Process,  page  308  (1905). 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       305 

govern  its  solution;  and  the  verification,  in  the  conclusions  reached 
in  the  form  of  a  proof  that  tests  out  the  accuracy  of  the  results  ob- 
tained. For  example,  the  teacher  shows  the  class  various  polygons 
divided  into  triangles  and  recalls  to  their  minds  the  fact  that  the 
number  of  triangles  in  any  polygon  is  expressed  by  the  formula  n  -  2. 
The  question  is  then  asked: — "How  many  triangles  are  there  in  a 
pentagon;  in  a  hexagon;  in  an  octagon?  etc."  Verification  may  con- 
sist in  requiring  the  class  to  test  out  their  answers  by  construction  of 
the  figures  under  discussion. 

In  physics  the  teacher  reviews  with  the  class  the  facts  in  regard  to 
heat  capacity,  and  asks  them  to  state  the  fundamental  laws  (previ- 
ously learned).  Then  he  asks  the  following  questions, — "Which 
would  be  the  more  efficient  foot-warmer,  a  rubber  bag,  containing 
five  pounds  of  water  at  8o°  c,  or  a  five  pound  block  of  iron  at  the 
same  temperature? "  This  step  of  application  can  be  easily  supple- 
mented by  a  verification  of  the  conclusions  reached  through  a  class 
or  a  laboratory  experiment.  Still  keeping  in  mind  the  general  prin- 
ciples previously  brought  out,  the  teacher  asks, — "Will  a  drop  or 
two  of  alcohol  feel  cold  or  warm  to  the  hand? — Will  the  ground  be 
more  or  less  deeply  frozen  when  it  is  covered  by  a  blanket  of  snow?" 
In  a  lesson  in  which  the  effect  of  heat  on  the  expansion  and  contrac- 
tion of  metals  is  the  topic  for  formulation  and  discussion  the  follow- 
ing question  is  put, — "What  would  be  the  effect  of  stringing  tele- 
graph wires  tight  in  winter  and  loose  in  summer?  What  would  be 
the  effect  if  the  opposite  were  done?  "  Verification  here  can  be  easily 
secured  through  a  class  or  a  laboratory  experiment. 

In  a  class  in  history  with  Solon's  reforms  the  main  topic  of  con- 
sideration, the  general  fact  of  the  cancellation  of  debts  is  considered. 
The  teacher  explains  that  any  deliberate  attempt  to  cheapen  cur- 
rency, as,  for  example,  the  move  to  introduce  the  free  and  unlimited 
coinage  of  silver  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  1,  is  in  effect  a  partial  cancelling 
of  debts.  With  this  principle  in  mind  the  class  is  asked  what  effect 
a  great  addition  to  the  gold  supply  of  the  United  States  would  have 
on  the  debtor  class  and  on  the  creditor  class.  "Has  there  been  such 
an  increase  in  recent  years?"  is  the  question  next  put.  "What  would 
you  expect  the  effects  to  be?"  is  a  further  query.  When  various 
answers  have  been  given  and  discussed,  and  when  it  is  seen  that  one 


306  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

effect  would  be  an  increase  in  the  price  of  commodities,  the  teacher 
refers  the  class  to  selected  collateral  readings,  in  order  that  the  con- 
clusions reached  may  be  verified  or  disproved. 

In  a  senior  class  in  literary  appreciation  and  criticism,  typical  ex- 
amples of  the  poetry  of  Poe,  of  Lowell,  of  Longfellow,  and  of  Whittier 
are  presented  and  the  fundamental  characteristics  and  differences 
are  pointed  out.  Later  other  examples  of  poems  by  these  authors 
are  given,  and  the  pupils  are  asked  to  decide  in  the  case  of  each  poem 
the  particular  author  who  composed  it.  They  are  subsequently  sent 
to  the  library  and  required  to  verify  their  judgments. 

In  the  languages,  the  instances  of  the  application  of  rules  and  prin- 
ciples to  specific  instances  are  numerous.  Indeed,  the  greater  part 
of  thinking  in  these  subjects  is  of  this  simple  deductive  type.  A  class 
learns  a  rule  and  is  required  to  apply  it  in  an  exercise  in  oral  or  in 
written  composition.  Verification  consists  in  a  criticism  and  correc- 
tion of  the  exercise.  In  a  translation  exercise  a  similar  method  is 
followed.  Such  questions  as  the  following  are  numerous:  "In  what 
case  is  virisf  "  "  Why  do  we  have  the  ablative  case  here?  "  "  How  do 
you  know  that  this  statement  is  in  direct  and  not  indirect  discourse?  " 

A  more  extensive  attempt  to  apply  general  principles  to  particular 
instances  is  found  in  the  following  lesson  in  Latin,  the  plan  of  which 
is  stated  by  the  teacher  as  follows: — "The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to 
emphasize  the  application  of  these  rules  and  principles,  namely, — 
the  uses  of  the  ablative  of  separation,  of  description,  of  comparison, 
and  of  difference;  also  the  complementary  infinitive,  negative  and 
positive  clauses  of  result,  and  negative  and  positive  clauses  of  pur- 
pose. The  class  is  to  find  in  the  assigned  lessons  in  the  text  one 
English  and  one  Latin  sentence  to  illustrate  each  of  these  points  as 
enumerated  above.  In  the  class  period,  pupils  will  be  called  upon  to 
translate  sentences  selected  by  them  and  to  explain  the  rules  involved. 
These  sentences  will  then  be  discussed  and  corrected,  and  the  judg- 
ment of  the  pupils  verified  or  amended  as  the  case  may  be."  Ob- 
viously the  method  followed  here  in  Latin  is  often  employed  in  other 
foreign  languages  and  in  English  as  well. 

The  Two  Functions  of  the  Deductive  Lesson. — Bagley  in 
further  discussion  of  the  deductive  lesson  points  out  that  it 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       307 

serves  two  distinct  functions,  namely, — it  may  anticipate  a 
fact,  or  it  may  explain  it.  In  the  illustrations  given  above,  the 
simple  questions  in  language  are  clearly  of  the  explanatory  type. 
The  aim  is  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the  learner  the  reasons 
why  these  particular  instances  are  as  they  are.  Examples  of 
the  explanatory  type  of  deduction  in  high  school  science  are 
given  by  Bagley  as  follows: — 

"In  botany,  for  example,  the  principles  of  chemistry  and  physics 
are,  or  should  be,  called  upon  to  explain  the  facts  of  plant  physiology. 
Suppose  a  lesson  to  have  as  its  subject-matter  the  upward  movement 
of  sap  through  the  root  and  stem  of  a  plant.  The  principles  of  osmosis 
and  capillary  attraction  are  at  once  suggested.  The  inference  will  be 
that  some  structure  of  the  plant  fulfills  the  conditions  required  for 
the  operation  of  these  principles.  Needless  to  say,  this  topic  may  also 
be  approached  inductively;  but  if  the  principles  of  osmosis  and  capil- 
larity have  already  been  developed  in  physics,  why  redevelop  them  in 
botany?  Here  is  a  fact:  the  movement  of  a  liquid  in  opposition  to  the 
law  of  gravitation.  What  principles  have  we  discussed  that  will 
cover  this  phenomenon?  Under  what  conditions?  Then  we  must 
infer  that  these  conditions  must,  in  some  way,  be  fulfilled  by  the  plant 
structure.  Let  us  examine  the  structure  and  see  how  they  are  ful- 
filled." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  lesson  in  regard  to  heat,  outlined 
above,  is  largely  of  the  anticipatory  type,  since  it  anticipates 
facts  rather  than  explains  facts  already  given.  The  anticipatory 
type  is  on  the  whole  a  more  stimulating  form  of  the  deductive 
procedure,  since  it  involves  the  element  of  curiosity. 

Bagley  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  anticipatory  ques- 
tion has  been  criticised  as  consisting  largely  of  shrewd  guess- 
work. "The  fallacy  of  this  position,"  he  writes,  "lies  in  the 
fact  that  'guessing'  is  assumed  to  be  emphasized  in  the  deduc- 
tive lesson.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  not  the  guessing  that  is 
made  to  appear  important  in  the  eyes  of  the  pupil,  but  the 
verification.    Nor  is  it  guessing  itself  that  is  dangerous,  but 


308  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

rather  the  failure  to  recognize  that  a  deductive  inference  is,  at 
best,  only  a  guess."  It  should  be  further  added  in  this  connec- 
tion that  the  skilful  instructor  takes  great  pains  to  see  that  his 
questions  are  based  on  such  clear  principles  and  such  abundant 
data  that  they  do  not  stimulate  guessing  in  the  objectionable 
sense  of  the  word,  guessing  that  is  based  on  no  adequate  con- 
sideration of  the  materials  under  consideration,  guessing  that 
is  mere  haphazard,  random,  and  chance.  To  this  sort  of  guess- 
ing science  is  strictly  opposed;  for  science  guesses  only  in  the 
sense  that  its  conclusions  are  not  absolute,  but  always  open  to 
modification  and  revision.  When  the  pupil  has  acquired  the 
attitude  of  scientific  "guessing,"  he  has  achieved  a  result  of  no 
mean  importance. 

Inductive  and  Deductive  Processes  of  Thought  are  not 
Always  Possible  or  Desirable. — In  the  preceding  discussion  in 
regard  to  the  use  of  inductive  and  deductive  methods  in  class 
instruction,  emphasis  has  been  placed  on  their  value,  and  on 
the  desirability  of  their  use  more  widely  than  at  present  in  high 
school  instruction.  Perhaps  at  this  point  a  word  of  caution 
should  be  uttered  to  the  over-zealous  teacher  who  is  convinced 
that  the  chief  aim  of  the  recitation  period  is  to  lead  the  pupil 
to  think;  and  who  for  this  reason  spends  the  greater  part  of 
the  class  hour  in  discussing  principles  and  drawing  conclusions. 
Such  a  teacher  should  remember  that  there  are  in  school  prac- 
tice obvious  limits  in  the  use  of  inductive  and  deductive  methods. 

The  fact  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  inductive 
procedure  is  long  and  time-consuming;  that  within  the  limits 
of  the  class  hour,  it  is  difficult  adequately  to  develop  an  induc- 
tive process;  that  it  is  seldom  possible  for  the  learner  to  arrive 
at  any  scientifically  valid  inductions,  and  that  his  inductions 
are  often  fragmentary  and  inconsequential.  For  these  reasons, 
a  cautious  teacher  will  use  the  inductive  method  with  discre- 
tion, and  not  strive  to  formulate  with  his  class  too  many  prin- 
ciples and  rules,  the  understanding  of  which  is  often  possible 


THE  METHODS  OF  THE  CLASS  PERIOD       309 

simply  by  their  statement  and  adequate  illustration.  He  will 
further  keep  in  mind  the  fact,  in  using  both  inductive  and  de- 
ductive methods  of  instruction,  that  principles  without  facts 
are  barren  and  useless.  There  is  no  royal  road  to  thinking. 
Reasoning  depends  as  much  upon  resources  as  upon  methods. 
The  resources  of  thinking  are  facts,  which  the  pupil  must  know 
accurately  if  he  is  to  employ  them  intelligently.  No  valid  con- 
clusions can  be  arrived  at  in  history,  in  literature,  in  language, 
in  science,  in  mathematics, — unless  the  learner  knows  his  facts, 
and  to  know  them,  he  must  meet  them  again  and  again,  and 
have  them  impressed  on  his  mind  often  through  the  laborious 
process  of  rigorous  drill.  At  this  point,  the  teacher  must  decide 
what  facts  are  necessary  in  order  that  his  pupils  may  arrive 
at  an  adequate  understanding  of  the  subject-matter  of  the 
course.  And  when  he  has  decided  upon  what  these  necessary 
facts  are,  he  must  use  every  means  in  his  power  to  make  them  a 
permanent  content  in  the  minds  of  these  pupils. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   QUESTION  AS  A  METHOD   OF  INSTRUCTION 

The  Question  a  Vital  Part  of  the  Recitation. — In  Chap- 
ter XI.  reference  was  made  to  the  comments  and  questioning  of 
the  teacher  as  an  important  part  of  the  oral  lesson,  and  the  fact 
was  emphasized  that  the  teacher  as  a  rule  consumes  too  much  of 
the  class  period  himself,  and  leaves  to  the  pupil  too  small  a 
share  of  the  time  devoted  to.  the  recitation.  It  was  further 
pointed  out  that  the  comments  and  questions  of  the  teacher 
are  often  fragmentary,  haphazard,  and  without  definite  point. 
However,  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  well-organized  and 
carefully  planned  questions  are  a  vital  part  of  the  class  exercise, 
indeed  the  most  vital  part.  The  efficiency  of  instruction  is 
measured  in  a  large  degree  by  the  nature  of  the  questions  that 
are  asked  and  the  care  with  which  they  are  framed.  No  teacher 
of  elementary  or  secondary  subjects  can  succeed  in  his  instruc- 
tion who  has  not  a  fair  mastery  of  the  art  of  questioning.  The 
most  efficient  teacher  is  more  than  a  drill-master,  a  hearer  of 
lessons,  an  expositor  of  facts  and  principles.  He  leads  his 
pupils  to  think  and  to  understand  by  arousing  in  them  self- 
activity  through  the  stimulus  of  his  questions. 

The  Question  has  a  Three-fold  Function. — In  discussing 
the  nature  and  value  of  the  question,  we  should  keep  in  mind 
the  fact  that  it  has  a  three-fold  function. 

(a)  In  the  first  place,  the  question  serves  the  important  purpose 
of  testing  the  knowledge  of  the  pupil.  Such  questions,  whether 
oral  or  written,  should  be  framed  with  care.  Not  all  facts  are 
equally  important.  Many  are  merely  incidental,  some  are 
trivial,  while  still  others,  valuable  when  considered  in  and  of 

310 


THE  QUESTION  AS  A  METHOD  OF  INSTRUCTION      311 

themselves,  are  too  difficult  for  the  pupils  to  comprehend,  or 
require  too  much  time  and  effort  in  their  mastery.  Some  are 
important  for  pupils  living  in  certain  localities,  and  relatively 
unimportant  for  pupils  who  live  in  others.  In  framing  questions 
to  test  the  knowledge  of  the  pupil  the  teacher  must  carefully 
evaluate  them  in  terms  of  the  ultimate  aims  of  the  subject  and 
the  more  immediate  aims  of  the  lesson. 

In  the  writer's  experience,  the  asking  of  incidental  and  trivial 
questions  is  a  common  fault  in  the  teaching  of  literature.  The 
teacher  who  asks  many  questions  of  this  type  lacks  the  stimulus 
and  the  corrective  influence  of  large  objectives.  The  big  and 
vital  problems  have  escaped  him;  consequently  the  facts  that 
he  seeks  to  bring  out  relate  to  the  smaller  matters.  The  mean- 
ing of  words,  the  significance  of  unimportant  allusions,  the 
construction  of  phrases,  sentences,  and  paragraphs,  the  detailed 
outline  of  the  exposition  or  the  narrative, — these  loom  large  in 
his  mind.  They  are  the  most  obvious  matters,  the  ones  nearest 
at  hand,  and  they  require  the  least  definite  planning.  Often, 
too,  they  are  the  very  type  of  question  that  he  has  become 
familiar  with  during  his  college  course.  They  doubtless  have 
a  place,  but  surely  a  subordinate  and  unimportant  place  in  the 
teaching  of  literary  comprehension  and  appreciation. 

The  writer  has  tabulated  the  kind  of  fact  questions  asked  during 
the  course  of  five  class  periods  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  Scott's 
Lady  of  the  Lake.  On  the  average,  forty  questions  in  each  recitation 
were  devoted  to  facts  relating  to  the  story,  many  of  them  going  into 
details  as  to  just  what  happened  to  this  or  that  person  in  the  narra- 
tive. Such  a  minute  knowledge  would  have  signified  something  if 
any  subsequent  use  had  been  made  of  it,  but  the  facts  were  treated 
as  mere  facts  and  left  quite  in  the  air.  The  teacher  justified  this  type 
of  questioning  by  asserting  that  it  was  one  of  his  main  aims  to  have 
the  pupil  "know  the  story  well."  In  a  second  class  that  was  study- 
ing Burke's  Conciliation,  sixty  minutes  out  of  a  total  of  two  class 
periods  of  ninety  minutes  were  consumed  in  a  elaborate  test  on  the 


312  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

construction  of  the  speech,  and  of  the  remaining  thirty,  twenty  were 
spent  in  testing  the  class  on  the  historical  setting.  No  adequate  con- 
ception was  given  as  to  what  the  speech  really  signified  as  a  human 
document,  few  vital  facts  were  brought  out  concerning  its  bearings 
on  the  world  history  of  the  time,  the  author  himself,  or  its  relation 
to  the  American  Revolution.  The  teacher  said  that  his  chief  aim  was 
to  correlate  the  work  with  exposition  and  argumentation,  and  to 
afford  the  pupils  an  opportunity  for  analysis.  These  aims,  of  course, 
were  not  without  a  certain  justification,  which,  however  was  con- 
siderably weakened  by  the  fact  that  the  assignment  was  to  be  studied 
essentially  as  a  masterpiece  of  literature.  In  a  third  class  in  "litera- 
ture," a  total  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  minutes  were  devoted  to 
the  teaching  of  Julius  Ccesar.  During  this  time  three  hundred  and 
seventy-six  fact  questions  were  asked,  distributed  as  follows: — 
meaning  of  words,  117;  historical  facts,  92;  syntax,  43;  outline  of 
story,  42;  rhetoric,  23;  prosody,  21;  mythology,  19;  plot,  13;  con- 
nection with  present  life,  6.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  to  what 
extent  questions  of  this  character  are  motivated  by  the  necessity 
of  padding. 

In  another  class  in  English,  however,  in  which  one  hundred  and 
twenty  minutes  of  teaching  were  observed  and  in  which  one  hundred 
and  three  questions  were  asked  the  number  of  fact  questions  was 
only  fifty-nine.  Fifty  of  these  served  as  a  basis  for  developing  sub- 
sequent thought  questions.  Only  nine  were  of  the  "incidental"  type. 
In  a  second  class  (in  history)  observed  for  five  recitation  periods,  the 
number  of  questions  was  one  hundred  and  eighty-six,  an  average  of 
less  than  forty  questions  for  each  class  period.  All  but  seven  of  the 
fact  questions  asked  were  used  as  a  basis  for  developing  the  main 
topics  of  these  lessons. 

Questions  in  history  are  often  at  fault  because  the  teacher 
makes  no  distinction  between  the  relative  worth  of  the  facts 
recorded  in  the  text-book.  A  critic  teacher  who  has  had  under 
his  charge  many  novices  in  the  teaching  of  history  finds  that 
one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  that  he  encounters  in  training 
these  beginning  teachers  in  a  proper  method  is  due  to  the  cir- 
cumstance that  they  do  not  easily  recognize  the  difference  be- 


THE  QUESTION  AS  A  METHOD  OF  INSTRUCTION      313 

tween  the  important  facts  and  those  of  little  significance.  In 
the  writer's  experience,  older  teachers  are  not  altogether  free 
from  this  fault. 

In  the  course  of  a  lesson  observed  by  the  writer  on  the  development 
of  a  spirit  of  national  unity  in  Greece  the  main  theme  was  lost  sight 
of  through  over-emphasis  of  small  details.  Ninety-five  questions 
were  asked  in  the  class  period,  and  ninety-two  concerned  facts  touched 
on  in  the  text.  Of  these,  twenty-five  related  to  the  names  of  poets, 
the  dates  of  their  birth  and  death,  the  places  in  which  they  lived  and 
fragmentary  and  uncertain  details  of  their  lives.  Thirty-two  ques- 
tions of  a  similar  nature  were  asked  concerning  the  early  Greek  philos- 
ophers. Twenty  questions  were  devoted  to  the  Eleusinian  mysteries 
and  touched  on  stories  from  mythology,  and  the  nature  of  the  Eleusin- 
ian rites  and  ceremonies.  The  remaining  questions  concerned  details 
of  the  Olympian  games.  In  all  of  these  questions  only  one  related 
definitely  to  the  service  of  the  poets,  the  philosophers,  the  religious 
festivals,  and  the  athletic  contests  in  giving  the  Greek  people  a 
common  national  spirit.  The  facts  were  treated  as  mere  facts,  all 
of  the  same  importance  and  significance. 

In  the  teaching  of  history  it  is  not  uncommon  for  the  instruc- 
tor to  attempt  to  bring  out  facts  that  are  important,  but  which 
the  pupil  cannot  easily  comprehend.  The  writer  of  the  his- 
torical text  has  included  these  facts  because  they  seemed  to 
him  an  essential  part  of  the  complete  narrative,  as  doubtless 
they  are.  However,  their  importance  for  the  pupil  is  a  matter 
somewhat  apart  from  their  importance  in  the  historical  account. 
No  matter  what  their  value  as  such,  they  have  no  place  in  the 
lesson  if  they  do  not  serve  the  ends  of  instruction. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  such  questions  as  the  following  asked  by 
teachers  who  are  thinking  more  of  the  subject  than  they  are  of  the 
capacities  of  the  boys  and  girls  that  they  are  teaching, — "What  did 
Plato  mean  by  'ideas'?"  "Why  is  he  considered  more  of  a  theologian 
than  a  man  of  science? "     "What  are  the  essential  features  of  a 


314  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

Corinthian  capital?"    "What  are  the  main  principles  in  the  Roman 
conception  of  law?  " 

In  teaching  science  it  is  necessary  to  keep  in  mind  the  local 
environment  in  selecting  the  facts  to  be  emphasized.  Teachers 
often  lose  sight  of  the  value  of  bringing  the  science  studied  home 
to  the  pupil.  In  an  agricultural  community  the  facts  in  physics 
and  chemistry  should  have  some  reference  to  soils  and  their 
treatment;  in  a  manufacturing  community  a  different  set  of 
facts  should  be  emphasized.1 

In  a  class  in  general  science,  the  topic  for  discussion  was  fisheries 
and  their  economic  importance.  The  locality  was  in  close  proximity 
to  a  large  fishing  industry.  However,  the  teacher  discussed  cod  fish- 
ing off  the  Great  Banks,  oyster  culture  in  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  salmon 
fishing  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  barely  mentioned  the  fact  that  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  school  there  were  hundreds  of  fishermen  engaged  in 
supplying  the  local  markets  with  the  fish  with  which  the  pupils  were 
acquainted. 

In  a  class  in  botany,  the  lesson  considered  plants  useful  to  man. 
A  great  deal  was  said  about  tropical  fruits,  the  cacao  tree,  the  tea 
plant,  and  the  olive  tree.  On  the  other  hand,  only  passing  mention 
was  made  of  the  pea,  the  potato,  the  apple,  the  pear,  and  the  plum. 
The  general  impression  left  on  the  class  seemed  to  be  that  the  plants 
of  value  to  man  were  mostly  located  in  remote  regions  of  the  world, 
far  away  from  the  life  with  which  the  pupils  were  intimately  ac- 
quainted. In  another  class  observed  by  the  writer,  an  opposite 
method  was  employed,  the  teacher  selecting  for  special  discussion  the 
huckleberry  among  fruits,  and  the  bean  among  vegetables. 

(b)  In  the  second  place  the  question  serves  the  purpose  of  making 
emphatic  facts  already  known  to  the  learner. — This  type  of  ques- 
tion does  not  aim  primarily  to  discover  what  the  pupil  knows. 
It  seeks  to  impress  upon  him  more  emphatically  that  with  which 
he  is  already  acquainted.  It  is  a  method  of  oral  drill.  It  can- 
not be  justified  as  a  method  of  instruction  unless  it  realizes 
1  See  Chapter  XI.,  p.  232. 


THE   QUESTION  AS   A  METHOD   OF   INSTRUCTION       315 

ends  other  than  those  of  mere  drill  for  the  pupil  who  is  being 
questioned,  since  it  is  extremely  wasteful  when  directed  toward 
the  individual  as  distinguished  from  the  class.  As  we  have 
already  seen,  the  drill  question  must  be  asked  in  such  a  way 
that  it  secures  the  mental  response  of  the  group  as  a  whole, 
not  merely  of  the  pupil  who  is  reciting.  Further  than  this  such 
a  question  finds  an  added  justification  when  it  emphasizes  dif- 
ficulties and  mistakes  that  a  class  as  a  body  frequently  make. 
These  mistakes  must  clearly  and  definitely  be  brought  to  the 
attention  of  all  of  the  pupils  in  such  an  emphatic  manner  that 
all  may  distinguish  between  what  is  correct  and  what  is  incor- 
rect.1 In  order  that  the  entire  class  may  participate  in  this 
drill,  it  is  desirable  that  the  question  should  be  put  to  the  class, 
and  after  a  brief  pause  some  individual  should  be  called  upon  to 
reply,  others  being  held  responsible  for  his  mistakes.  Further, 
these  drill  questions  should  be  distributed  rapidly  among  the 
various  members  of  the  class,  no  one  pupil  being  called  upon  to 
give  an  extended  answer.  The  same  procedure  should  be  fol- 
lowed when  brief  oral  questions  that  aim  to  test  knowledge  are 
asked.  Indeed,  there  is  often  little  distinction  between  the  drill 
question  and  the  question  that  seeks  to  test  the  knowledge  of 
the  pupil. 

Drill  questions  find  their  most  common  exemplification  in 
classes  in  foreign  language.  In  many  recitations  of  this  type  a 
large  part  of  the  class  period  is  occupied  in  drilling  individual 
pupils  orally  in  vocabularies,  idioms,  paradigms,  and  rules. 
We  have  already  seen  in  Chapter  X.  how  great  the  waste  may 
be  in  exercises  of  this  sort.  When  the  whole  class  is  alert  and 
eager  to  learn,  as  sometimes  is  the  case  in  a  superior  group  of 
pupils,  or  in  a  class  in  a  vocational  subject,  such  as  stenography, 
this  type  of  drill  is  effective.  However,  under  any  circumstances 
the  teacher  should  strive  to  make  his  questions  serve  a  wider 
purpose  than  that  of  merely  testing  and  training  the  individual. 
1  See  Chapter  IV.,  p.  66. 


316  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

As  a  rule,  better  results  are  obtained  when  the  response  to  drill 
questions  is  made  by  the  entire  class  in  a  written  exercise. 

(c)  In  the  third  place,  the  question  serves  the  purpose  of  stimu- 
lating thought. — This  should  be  the  chief  function  of  the  oral 
question.  The  skilful  teacher  seeks  by  this  means  to  stimulate 
the  entire  class  in  order  that  they  may  arrive  at  new  facts  and 
principles  through  their  own  initiative.  In  contrast  to  the  fact 
question  and  the  drill  question,  the  thought  question  requires 
reflection  and  deliberation.  The  response  to  a  fact  question 
or  a  drill  question  should  be  ready  and  immediate;  the  response 
to  a  thought  question  should  be  a  delayed  response.  A  ready 
response  to  a  thought  question  indicates  that  for  the  pupil 
responding,  the  question  is  in  reality  not  a  thought  question. 
Obviously  there  are  all  degrees  of  thought  questions,  ranging 
from  those  that  require  but  a  moment's  hesitation  to  those 
that  demand  genuine  deliberation.  Thought  questions  should 
be  asked  not  only  by  the  teacher;  they  should  be  asked  by  the 
pupils  as  well.  In  other  words,  the  employment  of  thought 
questions  by  the  teacher  should  lead  to  a  general  participation 
on  the  part  of  the  class  in  the  discussion  of  the  most  important 
problems  of  the  day's  lesson.  When  this  takes  place,  we  find 
the  " conversation  method"  of  instruction,  as  it  has  been  called. 

Many  thought  questions,  are  so  merely  in  form.  Miss  Stevens  l 
says  in  this  connection, — "If  you  ask  teachers  of  history  why  they 
are  teaching  it,  the  most  customary  answer  is,  that  '  history  de- 
velops judgment.'  In  hundreds  of  classrooms  where  I  have  made 
observations  of  the  questioning,  I  have  found  very  few  questions 
so  framed  by  teachers  of  history  that  they  called  for  any  individual 
judgment.  ...  I  have  found  such  questions  as  this:  'Was  the  king 
right  in  imposing  the  stamp  tax  upon  the  colonists?'  This  sounds 
like  the  appeal  for  a  possible  judgment  by  the  pupils,  but  it  cannot 
be  a  real  judgment  when  the  pages  of  all  of  the  texts  distinctly  reveal 
marked  censure  of  the  king.    'In  what  respects  would  you  call  the 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  59. 


THE   QUESTION  AS   A   METHOD   OF   INSTRUCTION       317 

War  of  18 1 2  a  second  War  of  Independence?'  appears  to  be  a  ques- 
tion involving  the  pupil's  judgment;  but  when  the  text-book  lesson 
prepared  at  home  contains  the  sentence,  'The  War  of  181 2  has  been 
often  and  truly  called  the  Second  War  of  Independence,  which  should 
be  understood  to  mean  not  merely  independence  of  other  nations, 
but  of  the  conditions  of  colonial  life,'  the  answer  was  obviously  colored 
by  the  author's  statement,  and  hence  it  could  not  be  a  judgment  of 
the  pupil.  It  seems  a  paradox  to  say  that  there  are  times  when  a 
judgment  question  is  not  a  judgment  question,  but  if  we  attempt 
to  analyze  so-called  judgment  questions  in  history,  we  can  find  many 
illustrations  to  corroborate  the  statement.  Analysis  of  the  six  sten- 
ographic lesson  reports  on  history  reveals  the  fact  that,  by  classifying 
as  a  judgment  question  every  one  which  could  possibly  involve  the 
element  of  judgment,  the  highest  attainment  is  twenty-eight  in  a 
total  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five,  while  the  lowest  record  was 
three  in  sixty." 

In  contrast  to  these  facts  brought  out  by  Miss  Stevens,  the  follow- 
ing may  be  cited, — In  a  number  of  classes  in  history  the  writer  has 
found  as  large  a  proportion  as  sixty  per  cent,  of  thought  questions 
asked  during  the  hour.  While  many  of  the  thought  questions  re- 
quired no  great  reflection  on  the  part  of  the  pupils  answering  them, 
they  did  require  a  mental  reaction  of  a  higher  type  than  mere  memory. 
Many  teachers  of  history  are  evidently  attempting  to  do  more  in 
their  courses  than  to  drill  their  pupils  on  bare  facts. 

At  times  "thought  questions"  are  so  superficial  that  they 
require  but  the  briefest  and  most  trivial  judgment.  In  foreign 
language  classes  as  a  rule,  the  questions  which  are  asked  that 
require  any  genuine  analysis  and  careful  deliberation  are  rare. 
Problems  relating  to  the  construction  of  words  and  the  sub- 
sumption  of  particular  instances  under  general  rules  are  the 
ones  most  commonly  encountered,  while  matters  of  deeper 
significance,  involving  insight  and  reflection  are  woefully  ig- 
nored. The  relatively  simple  linguistic  judgment  is  emphasized, 
while  the  profounder  judgments  and  insights  are  slighted  or 
entirely  passed  over. 


318  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

In  this  connection  Moore  *  has  made  the  following  comments: 
"I  once  entered  a  classroom  while  the  class  was  engaged  upon  that 
passage  of  the  oration  for  Archias  in  which  Cicero  attempts  to  make 
the  thoughts  of  his  auditors  rise  to  the  nature  of  the  poet's  mission. 
To  do  this  he  refers  to  'our  Ennius,'  the  author  of  the  Annals,  the 
father  of  Latin  poetry,  'who  calls  the  poets  holy,  for  they  seem,  as 
it  were,  to  be  approved  to  us  by  a  special  gift  and  favor  of  the  gods/ 
This  is  a  tremendous  saying,  and  I  waited  with  eagerness  to  hear 
what  sort  of  question  the  teacher  would  ask  on  such  a  passage.  It 
came,  'Why  is  videantur  in  the  subjunctive  mood?'  I  visited  another 
classroom  in  another  school,  while  the  class  was  reading  the  four- 
teenth chapter  of  that  first  book,  in  which  Caesar  tells  of  a  conference 
which  the  German  chieftain  Divico  and  his  retainers  attended  and 
how  Ca?sar  addressed  them,  urging  them  to  be  peaceable  and  to  send 
him  hostages  as  a  guaranty  that  they  would  be.  Whereat  the  German 
chieftain  arose  and  gave  expression  to  but  one  sentiment,  'Our  fathers 
have  taught  us  to  receive  and  not  to  give  hostages/  and  with  that 
broke  up  the  conference.  I  waited  intently  for  the  question  that  the 
teacher  would  ask,  for  from  that  German  love  of  liberty  which  would 
not  submit  to  be  crushed  out  by  mighty  Rome  herself,  much  that 
we  hold  dear  has  come  down  to  us,  and  there  in  that  remote  forest 
two  majestic  conflicting  forces  in  civilization  faced  each  other  for 
a  moment  and  expressed  their  opposing  ideals, — and  the  question 
came,  'What  mood  follows  utiV  I  went  into  still  another  classroom 
in  still  another  school  where  students  who  were  just  beginning  their 
study  of  the  Latin  grammar  were  engaged  in  writing  a  synopsis  of 
the  verb  upon  the  blackboard.  All  went  well  until  one  student  com- 
mitted the  mistake  of  attempting  to  write  a  perfect  imperative,  that 
disturbed  the  peace  of  the  occasion.  When  the  teacher  saw  it,  her 
reproof  took  the  form:  'You  know  there  is  no  such  form  in  the  book. 
You  must  follow  your  authority.  Watch  it  closely,  and  don't  let 
this  happen  again.'  There  was  no  calling  attention  to  the  impossi- 
bility of  giving  an  order  today  and  having  it  carried  out  yesterday. 
Like  Mr.  Spencer's  committing  of  geometry  and  Professor  Mann's 
verbal  repeating  of  the  definitions  of  physics,  what  I  have  seen  in 
many  places  leads  me  to  believe  that  these  are  examples  of  the  typical 
1  E.  C.  Moore,  What  is  Education?  pp.  198-200  (1915). 


THE   QUESTION  AS  A  METHOD   OF  INSTRUCTION       319 


teaching  of  Latin.     They  tend  to  convince  one  that  we  get  poor 
results  because  we  do  not  go  after  better  ones." 

If  this  picture  drawn  by  Professor  Moore  is  typical,  and  it  appears 
to  be  at  least  in  part,  it  illustrates  the  fact  that  our  teaching  of  Latin, 
and  to  a  considerable  extent  of  other  foreign  languages,  has  over- 
emphasized the  necessity  and  the  value  of  formal  grammar  and  mere 
linguistic  drill.  The  humanism  of  the  classics  has  for  generations 
been  lost  sight  of  by  many  teachers,  and  the  idea  that  modern  lan- 
guages are  literatures,  that  they  are  human  documents,  giving  ex- 
pression to  facts  and  thoughts  of  profound  interest,  seems  never  to 
have  entered  the  mind  of  those  high  school  instructors  who  teach 
these  languages  largely  as  linguistic  puzzles. 

Common  Faults  in  the  Questioning  of  High  School 
Teachers. — As  we  have  already  seen,  high  school  teachers  fre- 
quently ask  too  many  questions.  They  occupy  too  large  a  part 
of  the  class  period,  and  leave  too  little  time  to  the  pupils.  Miss 
Stevens  found  that  in  some  classes  as  many  as  two  hundred 
questions  were  asked  and  answered  during  the  course  of  a  forty- 
minute  recitation. 

Questions  and  answers  of  this  type  are  illustrated  by  the  following, 
taken  from  Miss  Stevens'  stenographic  report  of  a  lesson  on  the 
Lady  of  the  Lake: — 

Teacher.  As  a  rule  do  the  characters  seem  lifelike? 

Pupil.  Yes. 

T.  Which  is  the  most  lifelike  one  to  you,  Mr.  J.? 

P.  I  think  Fitz  James. 

T.  How  many  suitors  had  Elaine,  by  the  way? 

P.  Three. 

T.  Who  are  they? 

P.  Graeme,  Rhoderick  Dhu,  and  Fitz  James. 

T.  Are  those  men  distinct,  three  suitors  or  three  distinct  men? 

P.  Three  distinct  men. 

T.  From  the  beginning  has  the  story  flagged,  or  has  it  gone  on 
rapidly? 

P.  I  think  it  has  gone  on  rapidly. 


320  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

T.  No  halt  at  any  place,  nothing  to  retard  the  story? 
P.  No. 

Later  in  the  same  lesson  the  teacher  asks, — Is  it  (the  description) 
put  in  there  just  as  a  scene,  or  for  some  distinct  purpose? 
P.  Distinct  purpose. 

T.  And  in  this  case  it  was ? 

P.  Contrast. 

T.  What  other  descriptions? 

P.  Nature. 

T.  Very  much  space  taken  up  with  the  descriptions  of  nature? 

P.  Yes. 

T.  Have  you  a  pretty  fair  idea  of  the  country? 

P.  Yes. 

The  greater  part  of  lessons  of  this  type  is  composed  of  "rapid 
fire"  questions,  and  abbreviated  answers,  for  the  most  part 
calling  for  little  reflection,  and  directed  toward  no  particular 
conclusion.  The  whole  procedure  seems  somewhat  lacking  in 
purpose  and  reveals  no  main  objectives.  Such  questions  are 
seldom  carefully  planned.  They  are  too  frequently,  as  we  have 
previously  pointed  out,  fragmentary,  haphazard,  and  without 
definite  point. 

In  addition  to  the  faults  discussed  above,  the  questions  asked 
by  teachers  are  sometimes  to  be  criticised  because  of  the  fol- 
lowing errors: 

(a)  The  questions  are  not  well  phrased. — Teachers  may  ask 
questions  that  are  not  only  in  poor  English  form,  but  fragmen- 
tary and  incoherent.  Among  teachers  of  ability  this  fault  is 
relatively  infrequent,  as  shown  by  the  reading  of  Miss  Stevens' 
stenographic  reports,  which  are  for  the  most  part  free  from  this 
type  of  error.  However,  among  young  and  inexperienced  teach- 
ers, particularly  among  those  who  lack  poise  and  who  are  un- 
duly nervous,  such  questions  are  by  no  means  uncommon. 
While  questions  that  are  incomplete  and  poorly  phrased  appear 
much  worse  in  the  printed  report  than  in  the  give-and-take  of 


THE  QUESTION  AS  A  METHOD  OF  INSTRUCTION      32 1 

Le  class  exercise,  they  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  The 
beginning  teacher  can  well  afford  to  spend  some  time  in  advance 
of  the  class  in  definitely  formulating  the  main  questions  that 
he  is  to  ask  during  the  recitation  period. 

(b)  They  are  repeated  or  rephrased. — Some  teachers  fall  into 
the  habit  of  repeating  a  question  one  or  more  times  before 
pausing  for  an  answer,  while  all  teachers  occasionally  do  this. 
As  a  habit  this  procedure  cannot  be  justified,  though  as  an 
exception  for  a  definite  reason  it  may  be  permitted.  The  ob- 
vious objection  to  this  repetition  is  that  it  consumes  time.  The 
excuse  usually  offered  is  that  it  makes  the  question  emphatic. 
However,  pupils  should  be  accustomed  from  the  outset  to 
habits  of  attention.  They  should  be  expected  to  know  what 
the  teacher  says.  If  the  instructor  makes  it  a  rule  to  repeat 
his  questions  the  natural  result  is  that  the  pupils  soon  acquire 
the  attitude  of  ignoring  the  question  when  it  is  first  asked,  and 
of  paying  attention  only  when  the  teacher  repeats  his  words. 
Thus  nothing  ultimately  is  gained,  and  much  is  lost. 

The  following  are  examples  of  such  questions,  observed  during 
various  class  exercises: 

"What  would  he  have  to  pay;  what  would  he  have  to  pay;  what 
would  he  have  to  pay?"  (asked  in  a  hurried  and  nervous  manner). 

"Do  they  combine,  I  wonder?  That's  what  I  want  to  know — do 
they  combine,  I  wonder?"  (asked  with  emphasis  and  with  the  evident 
purpose  of  holding  the  wandering  attention  of  the  class). 

"Can  you  prove  that,  Mary?  Can  you  prove  that?"  (suggestive 
of  nervousness). 

"Now  can  you  tell  me  what  a  lever  of  the  second  class  is?  a  lever  of 
the  second  class,  of  the  second  class?  "  (evidently  repeated  for  emphasis). 

The  rephrased  question  is  generally  asked  because  the  teacher 
is  not  satisfied  with  the  first  form  in  which  the  question  is  put. 
Obviously  it  is  desirable  to  ask  a  question  in  one  form,  and  that 
the  best.  While  this  cannot  always  be  done,  the  teacher  who 
takes  the  time  to  think  out  before  the  class  the  main  questions 


322  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

that  he  intends  to  ask,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  shall  be 
phrased,  will  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  necessity  of  rephrasing 
his  queries.  The  rephrased  question,  as  a  rule  lacks  clearness, 
and  since  it  is  stated  in  various  ways  often  leaves  the  class  in 
doubt  as  to  what  is  intended. 

The  following  are  examples  of  rephrased  questions,  which  fortu- 
nately are  not  numerous  in  the  instruction  of  the  average  teacher, 
though  they  are  frequently  found  among  those  of  poor  ability  and 
inexperience: 

"How  about  the  advantage  of  getting  started  on  time?  Isn't 
there  a  great  advantage  there?    Doesn't  it  help  a  great  deal?  " 

"This  is  what?  What  have  we  here?  What  kind  of  an  ion  would 
you  call  it?" 

"We  can  say  what,  Ralph?  Can  you  tell  us  now  what  we  should 
say?    Does  that  action  run  to  completion?    Does  the  reaction  stop?  " 

"How  did  he  do  that?  What  was  the  form  that  promise  took? 
What  was  it  called?    What  was  it  called?  " 

"A  calorie;  does  anyone  know  what  a  calorie  is?  Does  anybody 
happen  to  have  that  in  physics?  Do  you  know  under  what  topic  in 
physics  it  is  found?" 

"How  would  you  charge  a  Leyden  jar?  Which  end?  Would  you 
charge  it  through  the  tinfoil?    How  would  you  do  that?" 

"What  is  a  Leyden  jar  for?  How  does  it  work?  What  does  it 
come  under?    Under  electrostatics?    What  would  you  call  it?  " 

"What  was  the  greatest  achievement  of  Charlemagne?  What  title 
did  the  Pope  confer  on  him?  "     (From  Miss  Stevens'  report.) 

"Do  you  think  that  the  Germans  were  very  mild  or  gentle?  Why 
do  we  think  this  battle  of  Poitiers  was  such  a  great  benefit?  Why 
was  the  saving  of  Christianity  to  the  world  better  than  if  it  had  been 
converted  to  Mohammedanism?"     (From  Miss  Stevens.) 

"That  is  just  right.  They  were  coming  to  reflect  upon  things; 
and  what  was  another  thing  that  went  with  that?  As  you  reflect 
upon  what  you  have  done  and  upon  what  you  are  going  to  do  and 
upon  what  your  neighbors  are  doing,  and  what  you  think  they  ought 
to  do,  you  grow  wise.  But  what  is  preliminary  to  that?"  (From 
Miss  Stevens.) 


THE   QUESTION  AS  A  METHOD   OF  INSTRUCTION       32; 

"Would  that  be  accurate  to  put  down  everything  that  everybody 
told  you?  What  was  the  difference  between  Herodotus  and  Thu- 
cydides?  Was  the  man  himself  upright?  Did  he  keep  strictly  to 
what  he  knew  was  true?  "     (From  Miss  Stevens.) 

There  are  circumstances  under  which  what  may  be  termed 
the  "multiple  questions"  may  be  used  as  a  legitimate  device 
of  instruction.  The  teacher  first  asks  a  general  question  intended 
merely  to  turn  the  thoughts  of  the  class  in  a  certain  direction, 
and  then  asks  more  specific  and  pointed  questions,  only  the 
last  of  which  is  to  receive  a  definite  answer.  The  purpose  of  a 
multiple  question  of  this  type  is  first  to  prepare  the  mind  of 
the  pupil,  in  order  that  he  may  be  ready  for  a  comprehension 
of  the  final  question  of  the  series. 

The  following  are  examples  of  the  multiple  question: — Are  treaties 
between  nations  always  lived  up  to?  Can  you  recall  instances  in 
which  they  have  been  disregarded?  What  justification  is  sometimes 
given  for  breaking  treaties?  Do  you  think  under  certain  circum- 
stances it  is  right  to  break  a  treaty?  (In  the  above  instance,  the  class 
in  current  events  knew  definitely  the  answers  to  the  first  three  ques- 
tions, which  were  asked  by  the  teacher  for  the  sole  purpose  of  form- 
ing an  intelligent  basis  for  a  consideration  of  the  fourth.) 

Have  you  ever  seen  steam  coming  out  of  a  kettle?  Have  you  ever 
seen  mist  rising  from  damp  ground  or  a  pond  at  night?  Is  the  air 
outside  the  kettle  colder  or  warmer  than  the  air  inside?  Is  the  air  at 
night  colder  than  the  water  on  the  ground  or  in  the  pond?  How  can 
you  explain  the  formation  of  the  steam  and  the  mist?  (Here  again 
the  replies  to  the  first  questions  are  obvious?  It  is  the  last  question 
that  requires  thought). 

Have  you  observed  in  what  direction  these  magnets  point  when 
they  finally  come  to  rest?  What  do  you  notice  that  is  the  same  in 
the  action  of  all  of  these  magnets?    How  can  you  explain  this  action? 

(The  first  two  questions  call  attention  to  certain  specific  facts  in  re- 
gard to  the  magnets.  The  third  is  the  thought  question,  demanding 
reflective  reasoning.)  - 


j :_        introduction  to  high  school  teaching 

(c)  Tbtjwremskei  in  a  harried  wa**cr  — The  teacher  at  times 

c  r_ ..:;■  ::  77777777  "7577-      A177:    ~;  7     f  .he  77777—77 
that  he  has  Hit  a  moment  to  lose.    He  rashes  on  at  express 
;     777777     :  :r  ::.;c  77777777    77777- 
:iT.i  777      777777  17  irii-ii.e  in  ;:il 
facts.    Such  questions,  however, 
any  degree  of  comprehension  or 
ii  ;  — i  :;:. 


777  UafhtlS^  :7  777  77- 

::  7777777  777:7: 

s  to  nm  away  with  them.    On  such 

to  point  at  break-neck  speed.    The 

7  : : "' :::.:. 7      :    :~- 

hc  oftei  bfled 

" . ;    .7         :     -   i 

777     77777    he 

The  second  was  a  teacher  of  modem 

7  7  77.    bat  Vlfl 

777    7777    17    77    ~ IT 7 

7.7  7.7  1    77  1  777! 

1   ~777    :i    77777777    777   17   1777777 

.7    77    7:7.    77.7    7    .77  1:'.    71    77.7    7  7- 

of  the  class  period.    Asa 
He  failed  to 

he  did  not 
to  sink  in,    These  three  teachers  became 

7:  11*71  77 

of  their  work,    Forthe 

771  _7    7777.77    717177 


(d)  They  are  iadefinUe  or  cbsotre.— The 

orsfions  of  this  type  to  guess  at  the  answer.    This 
;  is  the  result  of  one  of  two  main  causes.   Either  the  ques- 

7.7  7   777  .77  7  7  1  .71:7  177  1777  7777  ;  7.7.  77   7.\    1771: 


THE   QUESTION  AS  A  METHOD   OF   INSTRUCTION       325 

of  knowing  toward  what  specific  points  it  is  directed,  or  in  the 
case  that  the  general  aim  is  evident,  the  facts  in  the  possession 
of  the  pupil  are  not  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  give  a  discriminat- 
ing answer. 

The  following  are  examples  of  indefinite  questions  due  to 
the  first  cause: 

"What  do  you  know  about  Edward  the  Third?" 

u  What  facts  may  we  observe  about  this  polygon?  " 

"  What  do  you  see  when  you  examine  this  plant?  " 

"What  can  you  say  about  this  demonstration  (in  physics)  that  has 

just  been  presented?" 

"How  would  you  try  to  make  your  listener  feel  as  you  feel  about 

something  that  you  are  describing?  " 

The  fault  in  these  questions  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  attention 
of  the  pupil  had  not  been  previously  directed  toward  any  spe- 
cific details  concerning  Edward  the  Third;  toward  any  essential 
aspects  to  be  considered  in  observing  the  polygon;  toward  any 
given  set  of  traits  to  be  noted  in  the  examination  of  the  plant: 
toward  any  logical  scheme  for  observing  the  demonstration  in 
physics;  or  toward  any  methods  of  imparting  to  others  the  emo- 
tions that  the  writer  possesses.  In  the  language  of  psychology, 
a  specific  problem-attitude  had  not  been  created.  The  pupil 
had  not  the  proper  apperceptive  background  on  which  to  base 
his  replies. 

The  following  questions  taken  from  Miss  Stevens  further  illus- 
trate the  indefiniteness  arising  from  a  general  question  that  has 
not  a  specific  point  to  which  the  pupil  can  respond: — 

•  Xame  all  of  the  things  in  Marmion  that  are  characteristic  of  the 
Middle  Ages." — (This  question  did  not  bring  the  desired  response, 
and  was  later  rephrased, — "WTiat  things  does  Scott  bring  into  this 
poem  that  make  you  feel  that  it  is  the  Middle  Ages  and  warlike 
times?") 


326  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

"  What  do  you  consider  the  real  weakness  in  Marmion's  character?  " 
(in  terms  of  the  teacher's  aim  the  question  would  have  been  more 
effectively  put  as  follows: — "What  do  you  consider  the  weakness  in 
Marmion's  character  which  led  to  his  downfall?") 

"What  do  you  think  are  the  strong  points  in  Marmion?"  (This 
question  was  not  answered  by  the  pupils.  Then  the  teacher  asked,— 
"  How  many  feel  that  the  descriptions  are  capital?  "  Thus  the  teacher 
in  the  form  of  an  interrogation  answered  his  own  query.  It  is  often 
the  outcome  of  the  general  question  that  it  is  finally  answered  by 
the  teacher.) 

"What  were  the  chief  characteristics  of  Cimon?"  (This  question 
proved  too  general  to  be  answered.  It  would  have  been  more  definite 
if  it  had  been  asked  in  the  following  form,  "What  do  you  know  about 
the  soldierly  qualities  of  Cimon?  "    This  was  the  real  point  at  issue.) 

The  questions  that  follow  are  examples  of  questions  that  are  in- 
definite because  the  pupil  has  not  sufficient  knowledge  to  answer 
them  with  discrimination: — 

"What  dangers  are  there  for  a  people  in  a  highly  centralized  form 
of  government?" 

"What  almost  invariably  happens  to  a  conquering  people  who 
conquer  a  race  greater  numerically  than  theirs?" 

"What  always  becomes  of  a  civilization  when  a  barbarian  invasion 
occurs?  " 

"How  can  you  tell  good  air  from  bad  air?" 

"What  influence  had  the  life  of  Spenser  on  the  character  of  his 
poetry?  " 

"What  characteristics  in  the  writings  of  Hawthorne  show  him  to 
be  a  master  of  style?  " 

Such  questions  as  these  may  be  occasionally  justified,  par- 
ticularly when  asked  of  pupils  of  superior  ability.  In  all  cases, 
however,  when  questions  requiring  a  wide  knowledge  and  dis- 
criminating judgment  are  asked  they  should  be  introduced  by 
a  series  of  carefully  prepared  steps,  and  should  at  times  be  given 
in  connection  with  a  written  exercise,  rather  than  as  an  oral  quiz 
to  be  answered  on  the  spur  of  the  moment.    Generally  questions 


THE   QUESTION  AS  A  METHOD   OF  INSTRUCTION      327 

of  this  type  are  not  answered  at  all  by  the  pupils,  or  they  are 
answered  because  the  pupils  have  been  told  in  advance  either 
by  the  teacher  or  by  the  text-book  the  very  replies  that  the 
questions  seek  to  bring  out. 

The  following  questions  brought  out  few  intelligent  responses  when 
asked  as  a  part  of  an  oral  lesson  in  one  division  in  ancient  history. 
When  asked  in  another  division  (one  of  no  greater  ability)  as  a  part 
of  a  written  test  many  excellent  replies  were  received: — 

"Can  you  think  of  any  ways  in  which  the  geographical  position  of 
the  United  States  has  influenced  its  development?" 

"What  fault  in  the  Roman  democracy  did  the  wars  between  Marius 
and  Sulla  show?" 

"What  would  the  failure  of  Caesar  to  suppress  barbarian  invasions 
have  meant  to  us  today?  " 

(e)  They  are  leading  and  suggestive. — Not  infrequently  the 
teacher  asks  a  question  in  which  the  answer  desired  is  clearly 
indicated.  Suggestive  questions  are  permissible  and  even  de- 
sirable chiefly  when  they  are  employed  to  make  emphatic  some 
fact  already  known.  The  teacher  should,  however,  recognize 
the  function  of  such  questions,  and  not  assume  that  they  are 
genuine  thought  questions. 

The  following  are  in  reality  only  questions  in  name;  they  are  declara- 
tions put  in  the  form  of  an  interrogative. 

"Is  Shelley's  poetry  musical?" 

"Did  Whittier  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of  country  life?" 

"Was  Washington  a  great  general?" 

"Have  we  the  right  to  injure  the  feelings  of  others?" 

"Was  the  religion  of  the  Hebrews  better  than  that  of  other  ancient 
peoples?  " 

"Is  it  right  to  cancel  an  honest  debt?" 

"Was  Dickens  interested  in  social  reforms?" 

(f)  They  require  no  further  answer  than  assent  or  denial. — 
"Yes  and  no  questions,"  as  they  are  commonly  called,  are  not 


328  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

of  the  thought  producing  type.  Further  they  do  not  require  a 
discriminating  knowledge  of  facts.  For  this  reason  such  ques- 
tions should  seldom  be  asked,  and  then  only  for  the  evident  and 
clear  purpose  of  emphasis. 

The  questions  given  under  the  immediately  preceding  topic  are 
of  this  type.  Further  examples,  taken  from  Miss  Stevens'  report, 
are  the  following: 

T.  What  else,  generosity? 

P.  Yes. 

T.  Do  the  characters  seem  lifelike? 

P.  Yes. 

T.  Nothing  to  retard  the  story? 

P.  No. 

T.  Anything  that  seems  at  all  forced? 

P.  Yes. 

T.  Would  that  be  an  especial  charge  to  his  chivalry? 

P.  Yes. 

T.  Very  much  space  taken  up  with  the  description  of  nature? 

P.  Yes. 

T.  Have  you  a  pretty  fair  idea  of  the  country? 

P.  Yes. 

T.  Superstition  used  much  in  this  story? 

P.  Yes. 

T.  Does  Scott  love  action? 

P.  Yes. 

T.  What  sort  of  story,  then,  is  it  interesting? 

P.  Yes. 

The  writer  has  attempted  to  make  an  estimate  of  the  frequency 
of  such  questions  in  the  average  high  school  class.  He  selected  at 
random  twenty  different  classes  and  made  a  rough  record  of  the 
percentage  of  yes  and  no  questions  asked.  In  these  twenty  classes 
a  fourth  of  the  questions  required  practically  no  response  except  af- 
firmation or  denial.  A  large  percentage  of  the  answers  were  in  the 
affirmation  form,  about  nine  out  of  ten.  In  some  classes  in  English 
the  proportion  of  these  questions  ran  very  high.  Next  in  order  of 
frequency  stood  history  with  science  and  foreign  language  somewhat 


THE   QUESTION  AS  A  METHOD   OF  INSTRUCTION       329 

lower,  and  mathematics  at  the  bottom  of  the  list.  Further,  there 
was  an  inverse  relation  between  the  number  of  thought  questions 
asked  during  a  recitation  period  and  the  number  of  yes  and  no  ques- 
tions. 

(g)  They  stimulate  only  superficial  and  pseudo-judgments. — 
Genuine  thought  questions,  requiring  any  extended  reflection 
or  discrimination  cannot  be  numerous.  For  this  the  teacher  is 
as  a  rule  not  primarily  at  fault.  The  time  allowed  for  the  class 
exercise  does  not  afford  an  opportunity  for  much  critical  judg- 
ment. Further,  many  pupils  are  not  capable  of  making  such 
judgments.  The  teacher  should,  however,  aim  to  ask  an  in- 
creasing number  of  genuine  thought  questions  as  he  develops 
his  subject  with  his  class.  He  should  now  and  then  give  oppor- 
tunity in  the  recitation  period  for  the  class  to  think  out  such 
questions.  More  frequently  he  should  give  these  questions  as 
a  part  of  the  assignment  to  be  answered  at  the  next  recitation. 
To  these  genuine  thought  questions  he  will  find  many  who 
are  not  capable  of  making  an  intelligent  response.  However, 
he  is  justified  in  asking  such  questions  in  order  that  the  pupils 
of  superior  ability  may  have  an  opportunity  to  give  their  atten- 
tion, occasionally  at  least,  to  things  that  stimulate  their  intel- 
lectual interests  and  challenge  their  abilities. 

(h)  They  insist  on  answers  that  cannot  be  readily  given. — 
Bagley,  in  particular,  has  pointed  out  the  undesirability  of 
what  he  terms  the  "pumping  question."  In  a  previous  chapter 
we  have  likewise  pointed  out  the  folly  of  attempting  to  force 
the  pupil  to  answer  when  he  has  not  the  inclination  or  ability 
to  do  so.  Teachers  not  infrequently  make  the  mistake  of  de- 
manding a  reply  from  a  member  of  the  class  who  asserts  that 
he  does  not  know.  They  seem  to  take  it  as  a  challenge  to  their 
ability  to  force  an  answer  from  the  pupil.  Obviously,  there 
is  no  justification  in  asking  a  pumping  question  when  such 
questions  are  a  test  for  knowledge.  On  the  other  hand  the 
pumping  question  has  a  certain  justification  when  it  is  directed 


330  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

toward  making  the  pupil  think.  If  instruction  were  individual 
the  pumping  question  of  this  type  would  have  a  considerable 
place  in  teaching,  but  it  should  never  be  used  as  a  means  of 
stimulating  the  thought  of  a  dull  or  indifferent  pupil  to  the 
detriment  of  the  class  as  a  whole.  No  teacher  should  be  so 
strong  an  adherent  of  the  "Socratic  Method' '  that  he  re- 
fuses to  tell  anything  that  by  hook  or  crook  can  be  dragged 
out  of  the  pupil.  The  rights  of  the  class  as  a  whole  are  para- 
mount. 

The  Essentials  of  a  Good  Question. — In  the  discussion  of 
the  preceding  pages  we  have  enumerated  various  faults  found 
with  some  frequency  in  the  questioning  of  most  high  school  in- 
structors. From  a  review  of  these  faults  we  can  characterize  the 
good  question  as  possessing  the  following  essentials: — 

It  should  be  in  correct  form  and  to  the  point,  being  sufficiently 
definite  to  indicate  to  the  pupil  the  object  aimed  at  by  the 
teacher,  but  not  so  framed  as  practically  to  state  the  answer 
expected.  All  questions  should  be  adapted  to  the  knowledge 
and  experience  of  the  pupil.  They  should  not  be  asked  over  his 
head.  Questions  should  be  asked  with  reasonable  deliberation, 
the  "tempo"  being  much  more  rapid  for  the  fact  or  drill  ques- 
tion than  for  the  thought  question.  As  a  rule,  the  question 
should  be  asked  but  once  and  in  the  best  possible  form.  It 
should  seek  for  a  more  extended  and  explicit  answer  than  that 
of  yes  or  no.  It  should  be  a  question  that  is  aimed  at  bringing 
out  an  important  rather  than  a  trivial  fact,  and  if  asked  for  the 
purpose  of  stimulating  thought,  should  deal  with  materials 
worthy  of  consideration.  The  question  should  be  one  that  can 
be  justified  from  the  standpoint  of  the  class  as  a  whole,  and 
hence  should  not  be  used  to  drag  from  the  individual  pupil 
facts  about  which  he  has  no  information  or  ideas  that  he  can 
only  with  great  difficulty  formulate. 

In  addition  to  these  characteristics,  the  good  question  should 
be  addressed  to  the  class  rather  than  to  a  single  individual. 


THE   QUESTION  AS  A  METHOD   OF  INSTRUCTION       33 1 

Hence,  unless  there  is  a  clear  reason  to  the  contrary,  the  ques- 
tion should  be  stated  before  an  individual  is  called  upon  to 
respond.  If  the  question  requires  thought,  a  considerable 
interval  should  elapse  between  the  formulation  of  the  question 
and  the  assigning  of  it  to  a  particular  pupil.  Questions  should 
be  asked  in  no  regular  order,  and  should  be  distributed  over 
the  entire  class.  A  few  pupils  should  not  be  permitted  to  do  all 
the  reciting.  On  the  other  hand  not  all  pupils  should  be  ex- 
pected to  answer  all  questions.  The  more  difficult  thought 
questions  should  be  directed  toward  those  only  who  can  be 
reasonably  required  to  answer  them.  Essential  fact  questions 
should  be  asked  of  all  indifferently. 

The  question  should  as  a  rule  be  so  framed  as  to  draw  forth  a 
complete  thought.  In  discussing  this  point  Miss  Stevens  says, — 
"When  we  ask  a  question  calling  for  an  association  of  ideas, 
we  have  no  way  of  measuring  the  potency  of  the  question  except 
by  the  answer.  The  answer  must  fully  reflect  the  result  of  the 
association  called  for  or  else  we  are  in  danger  of  fostering  super- 
ficiality when  we  aim  to  develop  accuracy  and  thoroughness." 
Teachers,  however,  may  err  at  times  in  the  opposite  extreme 
by  requiring  too  carefully  framed  answers,  thus  consuming  an 
undue  amount  of  time  in  the  mere  formal  aspects  of  expression. 
The  teacher  of  English  who  made  it  his  principal  aim  in  teaching 
Julius  Ccesar  to  obtain  complete  statements  from  his  pupils 
in  their  replies  to  his  questions,  surely  had  not  in  mind  the 
main  objectives  in  the  study  of  Shakespeare. 

The  thought  question  should  be  developed  with  the  class. 
For  this  reason  the  answer  should  not  be  completely  deter- 
mined by  the  teacher  in  advance.  Quite  frequently  the  pupil 
gives  an  intelligent  answer  to  the  question  put  by  the  teacher, 
but  an  answer  that  the  teacher  is  not  expecting.  The  teacher 
should  accept  such  an  answer  at  its  face  value,  and  not  demand 
that  the  exact  words  sought  be  given.  When  the  teacher  in- 
sists on  a  predetermined  answer,  this  gives  the  impression  that 


332  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

the  pupil  is  merely  exercising  his  ingenuity  in  guessing  what 
reply  the  teacher  wants.  The  following  taken  from  Miss  Stevens, 
illustrates  this  point: — 

Teacher.  How  did  it  make  the  Greeks  feel  to  conquer  the  Persians? 

Pupil.  Very  proud. 

T.  Very  proud.    There  is  a  better  word  than  that. 

P.  Vain. 

T.  I  think  I  should  not  say  vain. 

P.  Satisfied. 

T.  Isn't  there  a  better  expression? 

P.  Independent. 

T.  That  is  good,  independent,  but  there  is  still  a  better  one. 

P.  Self-confident. 

T.  That  is  just  what  I  wanted — self-confident. 

Further,  it  should  be  kept  in  mind  by  the  teacher  that  the 
answers  to  his  questions  should  be  addressed  to  the  class,  and 
not  to  him  alone.  Finally,  as  a  rule,  the  answers  should  not  be 
repeated  by  the  teacher.  It  is  frequently  the  custom  of  the 
teacher  to  restate  to  the  class  the  replies  made  by  the  pupil  that 
is  reciting.  In  general  the  justification  for  this  procedure  is 
based  on  the  plea  that  such  repetition  makes  more  definite 
and  emphatic  the  answer  that  has  been  given.  Sometimes  this 
is  the  case,  but  frequently  the  pupil  has  framed  his  answer  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  make  repetition  unnecessary.  Generally, 
when  the  pupil's  answer  is  not  satisfactory,  it  is  desirable  to 
get  the  correct  answer  from  some  other  member  of  the  class,  if 
this  can  be  accomplished  without  too  much  waste  of  time.  If 
the  answer  is  satisfactory,  but  is  not  given  distinctly,  then  the 
pupil  should  be  required  to  repeat  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  class. 
Only  by  insisting  that  the  pupil  shall  answer  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  class  as  a  whole  can  get  the  benefit  of  his  replies,  is  it 
possible  to  make  the  class  understand  that  the  recitation  is  not 
primarily  designed  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  what  the  in- 


THE  QUESTION  AS  A  METHOD  OF  INSTRUCTION      333 

dividual  knows,  but  rather  for  the  purpose  of  learning  new 
facts,  and  gaining  new  insights  through  cooperative  activities, 
in  which  teachers  and  pupils  alike  contribute  their  part  to  the 
work  of  the  entire  group. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  LESSON  PLAN 

The  Elements  of  a  Carefully  Prepared  Lesson  Plan. — 

It  is  obvious  that  success  in  any  important  form  of  human  en- 
deavor depends  on  a  definite  plan  of  action.  The  more  carefully 
considered  and  clearly  formulated  the  plan,  the  greater  its  prac- 
tical value.  Nowhere  is  such  a  plan  more  necessary  than  in 
teaching.  No  teacher,  least  of  all  the  novice,  can  safely  dis- 
pense with  a  plan  for  conducting  his  class  work.  This  plan 
should  be  worked  out  in  detail  and  reduced  to  writing,  to  serve 
as  a  guide  during  the  recitation. 

The  plan  should  first  of  all  consider  the  ground  to  be  covered 
during  the  recitation  period.  This  naturally  falls  into  three 
parts, — namely,  the  review,  the  advance,  and  the  assignment. 
The  review  takes  up  those  matters  that  have  been  touched  on 
in  previous  lessons.  There  are  several  considerations  that  deter- 
mine the  nature  and  extent  of  the  review.  In  the  first  place 
those  parts  of  the  work  in  which  the  pupils  are  weak  should  be 
reviewed.  Again,  points  that  need  emphasis  should  be  recalled 
from  time  to  time,  and  finally  those  facts  and  principles  that 
must  be  kept  in  mind  in  order  to  make  the  advance  intelligible 
should  be  called  to  the  attention  of  the  class  by  means  of  review. 
The  review  must  be  systematically  arranged  and  the  exact 
amount  of  time  to  be  devoted  to  it  should  be  determined. 

The  advance  has  to  do  with  the  lesson  that  has  been  pre- 
pared, in  part  or  as  a  whole  outside  of  the  class,  and  is  now  taken 
up  for  full  discussion  for  the  first  time.  In  planning  for  the 
advance,  the  teacher  must  decide  just  what  points  are  to  be 
emphasized  during  the  recitation  and  must  attempt  to  evaluate 

334 


THE  LESSON  PLAN  335 

iem  in  terms  of  the  general  purpose  of  the  lesson.  In  the  plan, 
the  advance  work  may  often  best  be  stated  in  the  form  of  an 
outline  of  topics  to  be  considered.  As  in  case  of  the  review,  the 
teacher  should  determine  the  amount  of  time  to  be  devoted  to 
this  part  of  the  lesson. 

The  assignment  is  a  most  important  part  of  the  recitation. 
Here,  likewise,  the  points  to  be  taken  up  should  be  carefully 
worked  out  by  the  teacher  and  adequate  time  should  be  given 
for  this  phase  of  the  lesson.    It  should  never  be  left  to  chance. 

These  three  parts  of  the  lesson  vary  in  proportion  from  day 
to  day.  At  times  the  work  may  be  entirely  review,  sometimes 
the  advance  may  occupy  the  chief  attention,  and  again  as  in 
the  case  of  the  "unprepared  lesson, "  the  entire  hour  may  be 
taken  up  in  considering  the  assignment.  Further,  it  is  to  be 
remembered  that  advance  and  review  do  not  always  occupy 
separate  parts  of  the  lesson  period.  Not  infrequently  the  ad- 
vance is  made  intelligible  through  recalling  during  the  course 
of  the  new  lesson  that  which  has  previously  been  learned.  In 
any  case,  however,  the  teacher  should  decide  beforehand  with 
as  great  accuracy  as  possible  the  proportion  of  the  lesson  that 
is  to  be  devoted  to  these  various  phases  of  the  work,  the  points 
to  be  considered  under  each  head,  and  the  amount  of  time 
that  is  to  be  given  to  each. 

The  Aim  is  the  Pivotal  Point  of  Every  Lesson  Plan. — The 
subject-matter  to  be  taken  up,  the  emphasis  that  is  to  be  given 
to  the  various  parts  of  the  lesson,  and  the  time  to  be  spent  on 
each  must  be  considered  in  reference  to  the  aim.  This  is  the 
pivot  on  which  the  entire  lesson  turns.  No  one  can  teach  effec- 
tively unless  he  clearly  determines  what  he  wishes  to  teach, 
and  why  he  wishes  to  teach  it.  He  must  have  a  conscious  objec- 
tive that  gives  point  and  method  to  his  teaching.  Otherwise 
he  is  quite  at  sea. 

As  a  rule,  the  teacher  should  have  a  hierarchy  of  objectives. 
He  should  have  a  general,  or  ultimate  aim,  under  which  should 


336  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

be  arranged  in  a  descending  order  proximate  aims,  terminating 
in  the  specific  aims  of  the  immediate  lesson  that  is  to  be  taught 
for  the  day.  The  ultimate  and  the  more  general  proximate  aims 
are  not  the  objectives  to  be  kept  in  the  focus  of  attention.  The 
aim  before  the  teacher,  which  determines  the  method  that  is 
to  be  employed  in  each  specific  lesson,  must  be  related  to  the 
"higher"  proximate  aims  and  to  the  ultimate  aim,  but  they 
cannot  be  substituted  for  it.  The  aim  which  serves  as  the  direct 
point  of  attack  must  be  immediate  and  relatively  simple. 

(a)  The  ultimate  aims  of  instruction  should  serve  to  give  the 
teacher  a  broad  and  generous  view  of  his  calling,  and  inspire  him 
to  practical  achievement. — Although  the  detailed  aims  of  the 
daily  recitation  are  essential,  they  are  not  in  themselves  suf- 
ficient. The  final  aims  of  teaching  should  be  somewhere  in  the 
background  of  the  teacher's  consciousness;  they  are  inspira- 
tional and  also  practical,  giving  validity  to  the  objectives  that 
are  nearer  at  hand. 

Perhaps  the  teacher  considers  that  the  final  reason  for  teach- 
ing his  subject  is  to  make  the  pupil  socially  efficient.  Again 
he  may  say  that  it  is  to  develop  character,  or  give  happiness, 
or  mental  alertness,  or  a  broad  knowledge  of  life  and  its  prob- 
lems. Whatever  it  may  be,  if  the  teacher  sets  out  to  accomplish 
this  aim,  he  is  given  a  conception  of  teaching  that  removes  his 
instruction  from  the  pettiness  of  a  daily  routine,  and  that  makes 
it  possible  for  him  to  evaluate  his  more  immediate  aims,  giving 
them  due  weight  and  proportion.  The  teacher  who  has  such 
final  standards  of  achievement,  is  more  likely  to  criticise  his 
work  from  day  to  day,  to  revise  and  improve  it,  than  the  teacher 
who  has  nothing  in  view  beyond  the  detailed  objects  of  the 
subject  he  is  teaching. 

The  good  teacher  asks  himself,  "What  am  I  really  trying  to  do  for 
the  boys  and  girls  in  teaching  them  history,  or  English,  or  science,  or 
French?  To  teach  them  these  things  means  to  teach  to  some  purpose. 
What  is  that  final  purpose?" 


THE  LESSON  PLAN  337 


The  instructor  who  teaches  history  with  the  aim  of  giving  his 
pupils  a  view  of  human  life  and  its  significance  must  teach  facts 
(yes,  even  dates),  but  he  must  select  these  facts  according  to  some 
principle  and  teach  them  in  reference  to  some  meaning.  Such  a 
conception  will  influence  the  aim  of  each  and  every  lesson,  make  it 
more  definite  and  more  practical. 

The  teacher  of  physics  may  conceive  the  ultimate  aim  of  education 
to  be  a  preparation  for  daily  living.  He  will  then  ask  himself  what 
shall  be  the  proximate  objectives  to  achieve  this  result.  "What 
facts  and  principles  shall  I  teach,"  he  asks,  "that  will  be  of  the  great- 
est use  to  the  average  boy  and  girl?  How  shall  I  make  these  seem 
real  to  my  pupils?  What  methods  of  laboratory  technique  shall  I 
insist  on  to  realize  my  purpose?" 

The  teacher  of  English  who  believes  that  the  ultimate  goal  of  in- 
struction is  to  give  the  learner  a  broad  and  sympathetic  attitude 
toward  life  and  its  duties,  will  find  these  aims  reflected  in  the  choice 
of  the  material  which  he  uses.  Thus  many  of  the  petty  details  that 
others  may  insist  on  he  will  pass  over,  and  those  things  which  give 
insight,  that  create  ideals,  that  inspire  conduct,  will  loom  large  in 
his  teaching. 

The  teacher  of  French  may  believe  that  the  value  of  an  education 
is  measured  largely  in  terms  of  the  training  that  it  gives  the  mind, 
and  he  will  accordingly  pay  less  attention  to  the  practice  that  makes 
pupils  fluent  in  speech  and  ready  in  translation,  and  more  attention 
to  the  linguistic  phases  of  his  subject,  than  will  another  teacher  who 
sets  up  the  standard  of  use  as  the  end  of  instruction.  Indeed  it  is  this 
conception  of  education  as  mental  discipline  that  has  up  to  the  present 
time  determined  too  often  the  materials  of  instruction  and  the  method 
of  dealing  with  these  materials  in  our  foreign  language  courses  in 
our  high  schools  and  colleges.  It  makes  a  vast  difference  in  the 
teaching  of  this  subject,  or  of  any  subject  in  the  curriculum,  whether 
the  ultimate  aim  is  mental  training,  practical  use,  insight,  knowledge, 
or  cultivated  and  enlightened  taste.  It  often  happens  because  dif- 
ferent teachers  of  the  same  subject  have  different  conceptions  of 
the  purposes  of  instruction,  that  there  is  real  confusion  in  the  minds 
of  the  pupils,  as  they  progress  in  their  course  and  work  under  various  I 
teachers,  as  to  what  they  are  supposed  to  accomplish. 


338  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

(b)  The  relative  justification  of  practical,  disciplinary,  and 
cultural  aims  in  teaching. — These  three  aims,  general  in  their 
character,  have  determined  very  largely  the  more  immediate 
aims  of  instruction.  They  can  hardly  be  justified  as  ultimate 
aims,  but  they  are  among  the  most  general  of  proximate  aims, 
and  are  so  important  that  a  further  word  should  be  said  con- 
cerning them  at  this  point. 

Practical  aims  may  be  interpreted  in  a  broad  or  a  narrow 
way.  As  commonly  understood,  practical  aims  mean  those 
things  that  can  be  definitely  realized  in  the  occupations  and 
professions  of  life.  In  this  sense  the  manual  and  domestic  arts, 
the  business  courses,  courses  preliminary  to  teaching,  and  the 
like,  are  considered  practical,  while  on  the  other  hand  the  more 
academic  subjects  are  thought  of  as  not  being  practical.  In 
the  writer's  opinion  this  conception  of  the  practical  is  inadequate. 
Practical  means  useful,  and  use  goes  far  beyond  the  mere  earn- 
ing of  a  living.  History  is  practical  if  the  facts,  notions,  and 
ideals  developed  in  the  study  function  in  the  life  of  the  pupil. 
If  the  study  of  history  makes  the  pupil  a  better  member  of  the 
community ?  if  it  " humanizes' '  him,  so  to  speak,  then  it  has  a 
practical  worth.  If  on  the  other  hand,  it  teaches  him  nothing 
that  immediately  or  remotely  influences  his  conduct,  then  he 
has  been  spending  his  time  in  a  useless  way.  What  is  true  of 
history  is  equally  true  of  literature,  science,  language,  and 
mathematics.  No  subject  should  be  introduced  into  the  curric- 
ulum, and  no  subject  should  be  kept  in  the  curriculum  unless 
it  can  be  justified  in  terms  of  this  broader  practicality.  No 
teacher  should  attempt  to  teach  anything  unless  he  has  some 
conception  of  how  it  may  be  used. 

Disciplinary  and  cultural  aims  do  not  primarily  emphasize 
use,  though  that  which  disciplines  the  mind,  that  which  broadens 
and  enriches  it,  may  be  of  the  greatest  use  in  the  daily  living  of 
the  pupil.  The  conception  of  discipline  that  is  ordinarily  current 
seems  to  the  writer  to  be  misleading  and  dangerous.    In  spite 


THE   LESSON  PLAN  339 


of  the  very  clear  findings  of  educational  psychology,  the  view  is 
still  common  that  one  of  the  chief  values  of  education  is  to  be 
found  in  the  cultivation  of  such  mythical  powers  of  the  mind 
as  reason,  attention,  imagination,  discrimination  and  the  like.1 

The  fallacy  in  this  point  of  view  lies  in  the  fact  that  there  is 
no  all-round  ability  to  reason,  or  to  attend,  or  to  imagine,  or  to 
discriminate.  A  pupil  may  very  well  learn  to  reason  in  mathe- 
matics and  fail  to  reason  in  history;  he  may  cultivate  a  vivid 
imagination  in  literature  and  acquire  no  skill  in  projecting  a 
plan  in  carpentry,  or  foreseeing  a  result  in  physics.  Further  than 
this,  when  he  graduates  from  high  school  and  goes  out  into  life, 
his  reasoning  ability,  his  imagination,  his  discrimination,  ac- 
quired in  his  school  tasks  may  be  little  in  evidence  in  the  office, 
the  shop,  or  the  factory. 

However,  it  would  be  wrong  to  assume  that  the  discipline 
gained  through  study  has  no  value  in  after  life.  Frequently, 
doubtless,  it  has  great  value,  but  just  how  extensive  this  value 
is  in  any  given  case,  and  how  it  will  manifest  itself,  is  a  matter 
so  difficult  to  predict  that  mental  discipline  should  never  be 
made  either  the  sole  or  the  principal  aim  in  teaching.  It  should 
be  regarded  as  a  by-product  that  comes  of  necessity  when  a 
subject  is  taught  well  and  taught  for  a  specific  purpose.  The 
aim  of  the  teacher  should  be  broadly  practical.  Then  if  he  does 
his  work  well  in  terms  of  such  an  aim,  he  may  be  sure  that  in 
doing  this  he  has  trained  the  minds  of  his  pupils. 

The  same  is  true  of  culture  as  an  end  of  instruction,  if  we 
mean  by  culture  a  kind  of  mental  adornment,  an%attitude  of 
mind  which  finds  pleasure  in  knowledge  and  intellectual  skill 
merely  for  the  sake  of  that  knowledge  and  that  skill.  Like  those 
who  seek  happiness,  those  who  make  culture  the  chief  end  of 
learning  seldom  find  it.  The  highest  culture  comes  to  a  person 
who  has  learned  something  useful  and  who  has  the  skill  to  apply 

1  For  a  typical  statement  in  regard  to  disciplinary  values  see,  "The  prac- 
tical value  of  Latin,"  Classical  Assoc,  of  the  Atlantic  States,  April,  1915. 


34°  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

what  he  has  learned.  Hence,  the  wise  instructor  teaches  his- 
tory not  from  the  standpoint  of  imparting  entertaining  informa- 
tion, but  for  the  purpose  of  showing  his  pupils  what  human 
life  means,  and  not  only  what  it  means,  but  how  it  should  be 
lived.  If  he  keeps  this  practical  motive  in  view,  he  may  be 
sure  that  his  pupils  will  acquire  a  culture  far  more  genuine  than 
if  they  had  been  intent  on  gaining  a  kind  of  knowledge  that  is 
merely  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  knower. 

Rational  enjoyment  is  often  put  forward  as  an  important  aim 
of  education.  This  may  be  thought  of  as  one  aspect  of  culture, 
but  it  is  attained  in  no  other  way  than  by  learning  those  things 
that  are  worth  while,  that  are  practical  in  the  sense  that  they 
work  out  the  life  of  the  individual  in  helpful  ways.  To  enjoy 
good  books  is  surely  worth  while,  but  not  for  the  reason  that 
such  enjoyment  is  purely  individual  and  selfish.  Through  the 
reading  of  good  books  the  pupil's  conduct  is  moulded  for  the 
better.  It  is  significant  that  we  do  not  set  up  enjoyment  as 
such  as  an  aim  of  education,  but  only  rational  enjoyment,  mean- 
ing by  this,  enjoyment  that  influences  the  conduct  of  the  in- 
dividual in  helpful  ways.  It  is  not  the  enjoyment  in  itself  that 
we  seek;  it  is  the  practical  consequences  of  this  enjoyment. 
Thus  in  the  end  we  can  safely  set  up  for  ourselves  only  practical 
aims;  aims  that  seek  to  realize  in  the  conduct  of  the  individual 
useful  kinds  of  behavior. 

(c)  The  nature  of  immediate  aims. — As  we  have  already  said, 
not  only  must  we  formulate  aims  of  a  more  or  less  general  char- 
acter to  give  point  to  our  teaching,  but  we  must  set  before  our- 
selves very  definite  and  immediate  aims  to  direct  the  work  of 
each  lesson.  No  instructor  who  stops  with  general  aims  can 
hope  to  get  the  best  results.  His  attitude  in  teaching  a  specific 
lesson  must  be  very  concrete.  These  concrete  aims  may  result 
in  impressing  a  body  of  facts  which  are  necessary  for  the  achieve- 
ment of  a  more  general  aim;  in  the  comprehension  and  inter- 
pretation of  such  facts;  in  the  acquisition  of  a  definite  amount 


THE   LESSON  PLAN  341 

skill;  in  gaining  notions  of  methods  of  procedure  and  in  ac- 
quiring interests,  insights,  and  attitudes  of  appreciation. 

The  following  are  examples  of  aims  that  seek  to  impress 
specific  facts: — 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  history)  is  to  bring  to  the  attention  of 
the  class  the  five  arts  as  developed  in  Egypt,  namely, — architecture, 
sculpture,  building,  literature,  and  science." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  physics)  is  to  show  that  the  resultant 
of  two  forces  is  a  maximum  when  the  forces  are  parallel,  and  act  in 
the  same  direction;  that  the  resultant  decreases  as  the  angle  between 
the  forces  increases,  until  it  is  a  minimum  when  the  forces  are  in  op- 
posite directions." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  algebra)  is  to  emphasize  the  rule  for 
the  subtraction  of  fractions,  and  further  to  show  the  fact  that  the 
removal  of  a  parenthesis  after  a  minus  sign  is  in  reality  performing  a 
subtraction." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  physics)  is  to  show  some  of  the  practical 
devices  used  to  determine  specific  gravity." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  algebra)  is  to  emphasize  the  fact  that 
in  solving  the  equations  for  x,  we  never  find  x  in  terms  of  x,  but  always 
in  terms  of  some  other  letters  or  figures;  to  emphasize  also  the  fact 
that  we  must  multiply  each  term  in  the  numerator  by  the  common 
denominator  in  clearing  of  fractions." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  Latin)  is  to  give  a  knowledge  of  the 
various  forms  and  uses  of  verbs  of  the  third  conjugation,  and  also  a 
knowledge  of  the  essential  differences  between  this  conjugation  and 
the  first  and  second  conjugations." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  chemistry)  is  to  present  the  properties 
and  uses  of  chlorine  and  its  methods  of  preparation." 

The  following  are  examples  of  aims  that  seek  to  secure  the  com- 
prehension and  interpretation  of  facts: — 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  history)  is  to  bring  out  the  main  reasons 
for  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Roman  civilization,  and  to  compare 
conditions  in  Rome  with  similar  conditions  in  America  today." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  history)  is  to  show  why  Rome's  policy 
of  expansion  was  more  profitable  than  Greece's  policy." 


342  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  history)  is  to  bring  out  the  contrast 
between  Rome  and  Carthage  and  to  show  how  the  superiority  of 
Rome  meant  in  the  end  the  downfall  of  Carthage." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  physics)  is  to  impress  upon  the  class 
the  distinction  between  the  three  classes  of  levers,  and  to  show  the 
application  of  the  principles  involved  to  machines  of  common  use." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  English  literature)  is  to  consider  the 
noble  qualities  in  the  character  of  Lancelot,  and  what  influence  they 
had  in  determining  his  conduct.'!, 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  general  science)  is  to  show  the  mean- 
ing of  the  term  'natural  selection'  and  its  significance  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  various  existing  species;  likewise,  to  contrast  natural  selection 
with  artificial  selection,  bringing  out  the  resemblances  between  these 
two  principles  and  their  essential  differences,  through  discussion  and 
illustration." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  German)  is  to  give  the  class  an  idea 
of  the  ways  in  which  time  of  day  is  expressed,  and  to  show  as  far  as 
possible  the  reason  for  the  expressions  used,  contrasting  them  with 
the  English  idioms  of  a  like  character.  Facts  are  not  merely  to  be 
impressed,  but  as  far  as  possible  they  are  to  be  'rationalized.'  " 

The  following  are  examples  of  aims  the  main  purpose  of  which  is 
to  secure  from  the  pupils  a  certain  amount  of  skill: — ■ 

"The  first  aim  in  this  lesson  (in  Latin)  is  to  stimulate  the  class  to 
read  the  assignment  more  rapidly  and  with  fewer  errors  than  they 
read  yesterday's  assignment  of  similar  length  and  difficulty.  Yester- 
day the  assignment  was  read  in  sixteen  minutes,  and  each  pupil  made 
an  average  of  three  errors.  Today  I  shall  attempt  to  cut  down  the 
time  by  at  least  two  minutes,  and  urge  the  pupils  to  read  with  greater 
care,  as  well." 

"The  main  aim  of  this  exercise  (in  chemistry)  is  to  give  the  pupils 
some  familiarity  with  the  method  of  purifying  water  of  volatile  sub- 
stances by  the  application  of  heat,  and  to  afford  individuals  practice 
in  this  method  until  they  can  use  it  practically." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  French)  is  to  encourage  the  pupils  to 
talk  more  freely  in  the  language  than  they  have,  up  to  the  present, 
been  doing.  I  wish  to  give  them  some  confidence  and  a  moderate 
degree  of  fluency  if  possible." 


THE  LESSON  PLAN  343 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  history)  is  to  secure  from  the  class  a 
rapid  response  in  connecting  the  twenty  important  dates  that  have 
been  learned  up  to  the  present  time  with  the  most  essential  facts  to 
which  these  dates  are  related.  These  dates  will  be  repeated  in  ran- 
dom order  and  immediate  replies  will  be  expected." 

The  following  aims  emphasize  methods  of  procedure,  rather  than 
facts  or  principles; — 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  algebra)  is  to  help  the  class  in  solving 
problems." 

"The  aim  is  to  show  the  class  how  to  study  a  lesson  in  geometry." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  show  the  pupils  how  to  read  German 
intelligently." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  algebra)  is  to  show  the  class  the  special 
method  of  obtaining  the  square  and  cube,  and  the  square  root  and 
cube  root  of  monomials." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  physics)  is  to  make  clear  the  method  of 
analysis  of  a  problem,  with  special  emphasis  on  reading  the  problem 
so  as  to  find  out  its  meaning." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  show  the  pupils  how  to  read  ancient 
history  in  order  to  get  out  of  the  text  the  most  important  ideas  and 
to  arrange  these  in  their  proper  order." 

The  following  aims  seek  to  arouse  interest,  to  secure  appreciation, 
and  to  develop  desirable  attitudes: — 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  English)  is  to  make  the  class  compre- 
hend Thoreau's  keen  observation  of  Nature,  to  understand  his  sym- 
pathy with  his  neighbors  in  the  wilderness,  and  to  lead  the  pupils  to 
feel  the  value  of  this  observation  and  this  sympathy." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  English)  is  to  make  the  pupils  realize 
the  state  of  mind  of  Lady  Macbeth  after  the  murder  of  the  king,  and 
to  impress  upon  them  the  frightful  consequences  of  evil." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  English)  is  to  get  the  pupils  to  appre- 
ciate the  delicate  humor  in  A  Rill  from  the  Town  Pump  by  Haw- 
thorne." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  English)  is  to  make  the  class  realize 
in  reading  Benjamin  Franklin's  experience  with  the  whistle  the  value 
of  being  conscious  of  one's  mistakes." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  English  composition)  is  to  stimulate 


344  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

alertness  on  the  part  of  the  class,  in  criticising  original  stories  read  bj 
various  members  of  the  class." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  history)  is  to  lead  the  pupils  to  under- 
stand that  the  motives  of  different  men  and  different  races  are  funda- 
mentally the  same,  and  thus  to  impress  an  attitude  of  tolerance  toward 
others." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  physics)  is  to  make  the  class  feel  that 
it  is  necessary  to  employ  exact  measurements  and  definite  technical 
methods,  if  results  that  are  worth  while  are  to  be  obtained." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  Latin)  is  to  give  the  pupils  some  ap- 
preciation of  the  exact  use  of  words,  and  its  value  in  expressing 
thought." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  geometry)  is  to  impress  the  pupils  with 
the  proper  attitude  in  attempting  to  solve  originals." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  geometry)  is  to  make  the  class  realize 
the  value  of  business-like  methods  in  demonstrating  propositions." 

(d)  Some  common  faults  found  in  the  statement  of  immediate 
aims  by  teachers. — As  a  rule  teachers,  particularly  the  novice, 
find  difficulty  in  adequately  conceiving  and  stating  the  im- 
mediate aims  of  their  class  instruction.  The  most  commonly 
noted  faults,  according  to  the  writer's  experience,  are  the  fol- 
lowing: 1 

(i)  The  teacher  states  his  aims  in  too  general  and  indefinite 
terms.  These  two  faults  are  as  a  rule  closely  related.  As  we 
have  already  seen,  it  is  necessary  to  have  general  aims  in  order 
to  give  scope,  organization,  and  significance  to  the  detailed  work. 
However,  each  lesson  must  have  a  few  very  definite  and  rela- 
tively simple  objectives. 

The  following  are  examples  of  general,  vague,  and  indefinite 
aims: — 

"To  further  consider  multiplication." 

"To  give  an  introduction  to  the  subject  of  triangles." 

1  For  examples  of  aims  and  methods  which  in  the  main  are  free  from  the 
errors  pointed  out  in  the  following  discussion,  see  Appendix  C. 


THE   LESSON  PLAN  345 


"To  give  the  pupils  an  insight  into  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV." 

"To  get  as  much  fun  as  possible  out  of  the  story  of  the  Seven 
Vagabonds." 

"To  make  the  Legends  of  the  Province  House  as  intelligible  as 
possible." 

"To  bring  out  interesting  points  in  Hannibal's  career." 

"To  develop  an  appreciation  of  the  Lady  of  the  Lake" 

"To  introduce  the  class  to  the  study  of  letter-writing." 

"To  discuss  some  of  the  modern  things  in  ancient  civilization." 

"To  interest  the  pupils  in  the  works  of  some  of  the  best  modern 
authors." 

"To  give  the  class  (in  geometry)  a  sure  foundation  for  future 
work." 

"To  clear  up  any  difficulties  (in  German)  of  the  pupils." 

"To  review  everything  in  the  last  two  lessons." 

In  contrast  to  these  general  and  vague  aims,  the  greater  practical 
value  in  teaching  the  daily  lesson  of  such  aims  as  the  following,  is  ap- 
parent : 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  impress  upon  the  class  the  present, 
imperfect,  and  future  tenses,  passive  voice,  of  rego,  and  capio:  and  to 
bring  out  the  points  of  difference  and  resemblance  between  the  active 
and  passive  forms  of  these  two  verbs." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  show  the  pupils  that  although  an  ad- 
jective agrees  with  its  noun  in  gender,  number,  and  case,  the  adjec- 
tive does  not  necessarily  have  the  same  ending  as  the  noun.  For 
example,  if  an  adjective  is  joined  with  a  masculine  noun  of  the  first 
declension,  the  endings  of  the  noun  and  adjective  will  not  be  the 
same." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  emphasize  the  principle  that  in  the 
addition  of  fractions,  if  a  factor  of  one  denominator  is  the  negative 
of  the  same  factor  of  another  denominator,  we  may  change  the  signs 
of  one  of  these  factors  if  we  change  the  sign  before  the  fraction;  also, 
that  in  the  addition  of  fractions  and  integral  expressions,  before  pro- 
ceeding we  must  place  the  integral  expression  as  it  stands  over  a 
denominator  and  place  before  this  expression  a  plus  sign." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  make  clear  to  the  class  the  necessity 
of  simplifying  equations  involving  a  parenthesis,  before  solving." 


346  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  consider  calcium  and  calcium  oxide 
in  relation  to  form,  occurrences,  preparation,  properties,  and  uses." 

(2)  The  teacher  formulates  aims  that  are  beyond  the  understand- 
ing  of  the  pupils  or  are  so  large  and  comprehensive  that  they  cannot 
be  grasped  easily.    Examples  of  such  aims  are  the  following: — 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  English)  is  to  show  the  versatility  of 
the  genius  of  Shakespeare." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  Greek  history)  is  to  give  the  pupils  a 
conception  of  the  growth  of  moral  ideals." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  science)  is  to  impress  upon  the  pupils 
the  fact  that  all  the  phenomena  of  the  universe  are  interrelated,  and 
that  determinism  is  the  unvarying  rule  of  Nature." 

The  above  aims  undoubtedly  give  expression  to  certain  desirable 
objectives  in  teaching,  but  as  stated  they  cannot  be  readily  grasped 
by  the  average  pupil. 

Examples  of  aims  more  adapted  to  the  pupil's  understanding  are: — 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  English)  is  to  impress  upon  the  class  the 
skill  with  which  Mark  Antony  plays  upon  the  emotions  of  his  au- 
dience in  the  funeral  oration." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  Greek  history)  is  to  emphasize  the  mili- 
tary methods  and  ideals  of  Sparta,  and  to  contrast  them  with  those 
of  Athens." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  general  science)  is  to  give  the  pupils 
some  idea  of  the  meaning  of  the  term  'conservation  of  energy.'" 

(3)  The  teacher  sets  up  aims  that  are  largely  formal,  and  so 
obvious  that  they  are  of  no  value  in  the  actual  teaching  of  the  lesson. 
— The  form  which  this  fault  takes  is  often  that  of  stating  the 
assigned  work  as  the  object  of  the  lesson.  The  following  are 
illustrations: — 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  introduce  the  class  to  the  new  subject, 
the  geometry  of  circles,  as  treated  in  the  assignment  for  the  day." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  geometry)  is  to  consider  the  proof  of 
propositions  XXV.  and  XX VT." 


THE   LESSON  PLAN  347 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  prove  that  any  two  rectangles  are  to 
each  other  as  the  product  of  their  bases  by  their  altitudes." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  prepare  potassium  nitrate." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  prove  the  following  proposition: — If 
the  circumference  of  a  circle  is  divided  into  any  number  of  equal 
arcs,  the  chords  joining  the  successive  points  of  division  form  a  regular 
inscribed  polygon;  and  the  tangents  drawn  at  the  points  of  the  divi- 
sion form  a  regular  circumscribed  polygon." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  teach  the  complete  inflections  of 
zoloy  nolo,  and  malo:  and  the  use  of  the  dative  with  such  verbs  as 
believe,  favor,  and  help." 

On  the  other  hand  the  following  aims  attempt  to  do  more  than 
merely  state  the  content  of  the  assigned  text: — 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  geometry)  is  to  furnish  the  pupils  with  a 
definite  idea  of  the  meaning  of  the  terms  radius,  diameter,  circum- 
ference, arc,  chord,  and  tangent." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  physics)  is  to  show  the  fact  that  sound 
is  transmitted  through  the  air  in  the  form  of  waves." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  Latin)  is  to  make  clear  to  the  class  the 
various  uses  of  the  ablative  absolute  as  illustrated  in  the  translation 
exercises, — Latin  to  English,  and  English  to  Latin." 

(4)  The  teacher  sometimes  sets  up  the  same  aim  day  after  day. — 
This  generally  results  from  the  fact  that  the  aim  is  so  general 
that  it  constitutes  an  objective  which  may  determine  the  teach- 
ing of  a  large  part  of  the  course.  One  teacher,  for  example, 
week  after  week  states  that  one  of  his  aims  in  teaching  English, 
is  the  arousing  of  interest  in  the  literature  read;  another,  as  a 
rule,  states  that  one  of  his  aims  is  emphasizing  the  value  of  a 
complete  answer  to  every  question  put:  a  third,  repeats  con- 
stantly in  his  lesson  plans  the  object  of  impressing  upon  his 
pupils  the  necessity  of  accurate  and  logical  statements  in  geomet- 
rical demonstrations.  Of  course,  no  one  can  deny  the  value  of 
interest  as  an  objective,  the  desirability  of  accurate  replies  to 
questions,  and  of  logical  statements  in  proving  propositions. 
Clearly  the  fault  here  consists  in  not  having  worked  out  in  more 


34-8  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

detail  the  more  immediate  aims  by  which  these  larger  ones  may 
be  realized. 

(5)  The  teacher  attempts  to  realize  too  many  aims  in  the  course 
of  a  single  lesson. — This  is  in  part  due  to  the  fact  that  he  does 
not  sufficiently  recognize  the  desirability  of  emphasizing  a  few 
of  the  more  important  details  of  the  lesson  rather  than  of  at- 
tempting to  cover  a  large  amount  of  ground  in  a  hasty  and 
hazy  manner.  It  is  better  to  teach  a  few  things  well  than  to 
teach  many  in  an  obscure  fashion.  The  following  are  examples 
of  the  fault  of  having  too  many  aims: — 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  algebra)  is  to  discuss  the  four  funda- 
mental operations  of  addition,  subtraction,  multiplication,  and 
division;  the  removal  of  signs  of  grouping,  and  the  solution  of  prob- 
lems involving  more  than  one  unknown  quantity." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  ancient  history)  is  to  emphasize  the 
important  features  of  the  home-life  of  the  Phoenicians,  the  charac- 
teristics of  these  people  in  general,  the  chief  Phoenician  cities,  with 
an  accurate  notion  of  their  location  and  industrial  life,  and  finally 
the  important  gifts  that  the  Phoenicians  left  to  posterity." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  history)  is  to  discuss  the  causes  of 
Edward's  peaceful  reign;  the  relations  between  Normandy  and  Eng- 
land during  his  reign;  the  activities  of  the  rival  claimants  to  his  throne 
after  his  death;  Harold's  struggle  to  maintain  the  kingdom;  William's 
methods  that  led  to  his  complete  conquest  of  England;  and  finally  to 
summarize  the  two  great  conquests  of  the  tenth  century,  and  show 
the  importance  of  each." 

On  the  other  hand,  such  aims  as  the  following  seek  to  realize  one 
main  objective: — 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  algebra)  is  to  make  clear  the  principles 
underlying  the  factoring  of  the  following  expressions, — 

a2  +  2ab  +  b2;  a2— 2ab— b2,  a2— b2;  a2  +  2ax  +  2ay  +  x2  +  2xy  +  y2; 
a2— 2ax— 2ay  +  x2  -f-  2xy  +  y2;  a2— x2— 2xy  — y2." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  history)  is  to  make  clear  the  effect  of 
the  Russian  campaign  on  the  ultimate  overthrow  of  Napoleon." 


THE   LESSON  PLAN  349 

(6)  The  teacher  at  times  jails  to  unify  the  various  aims  of  the 
lesson  in  terms  of  some  larger  purpose,  that  determines  and  in- 
cludes the  more  specific  objectives. — The  teacher  should  aim  as  far 
as  possible  to  have  a  distinct  goal  for  each  lesson  taught,  rather 
than  to  bring  out  a  large  number  of  relatively  unrelated  facts 
and  principles.  In  the  examples  cited  under  the  preceding  topic 
most  of  the  aims  quoted  are  to  be  criticised  for  lack  of  unity  as 
well  as  for  an  excessive  amount  of  detail.  One  further  example 
will  perhaps  tend  to  emphasize  this  fault  of  lack  of  coherence 
in  specific  aims: 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  German)  is  to  give  the  boys  practice 
in  forming  simple  sentences  in  answer  to  questions;  to  make  sure 
they  all  profited  by  the  reading  yesterday;  to  bring  to  their  attention 
the  principles  of  indirect  discourse;  also  certain  idioms  explained 
under  paragraph  154;  further  to  stimulate  interest  in  the  subject;  to 
impart  knowledge  about  Germany;  and  to  improve  pronunciation, 
reading  ability,  and  vocabulary." 

(7)  The  teacher  does  not  distinguish  between  an  aim  and  a 
method. — Theoretically  such  a  distinction  is  easy  enough  to 
make;  practically  it  is  often  difficult.  The  teacher,  however, 
will  be  helped  in  remembering  that  aims  concern  the  what  and 
the  why  of  instruction,  and  methods  the  how.  Probably  at  times 
it  makes  but  little  difference  whether  this  distinction  is  ab- 
solutely held  to  or  not.  It  is,  however,  important  that  the 
teacher  should  not  set  up  a  method  as  an  ultimate  end  of  in- 
struction.  This  is  likely  to  result  at  times  in  a  barren  formalism. 

In  elementary  instruction,  some  teachers  have  conceived  the 
Five  Formal  Steps  of  the  Herbartians  as  aims,  rather  than 
means  by  which  important  results  may  be  obtained.  Such 
teachers  have  felt  that  it  makes  little  difference  what  is  taught 
or  why  it  is  taught,  if  each  lesson  is  developed  in  the  form  of 
"Preparation,"  "Presentation,"  "Comparison  and  Abstrac- 
tion," "Generalization,"  and  "Application."    Manifestly,  not 


350  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

all  lessons  lend  themselves  to  this  form  of  procedure.  Even  in 
those  cases  in  which  they  do,  it  is  not  possible  to  decide  what 
should  be  taught  by  considering  a  method  of  teaching. 

Again,  teachers  are  often  impressed  with  the  necessity  of 
conducting  instruction  in  the  form  of  the  question-and-answer 
method,  and  consequently  keeping  this  object  in  view,  they  at 
times  go  to  unjustifiable  and  ridiculous  extremes. 

The  high  school  teacher  is  not  prone  to  these  errors,  since 
often  he  knows  but  little  about  the  methodology  of  instruction. 
His  chief  danger  consists  in  thinking  of  tests  for  knowledge  and 
processes  of  drill  (methods  of  obtaining  definite  results)  as  in 
themselves  objectives  of  instruction.  This  is  generally  a  fatal 
error.  At  times,  too,  he  regards  methods  of  presenting  new 
facts,  through  development,  lecture,  demonstration,  discussion, 
and  the  like,  as  ends  rather  than  means.  Of  course,  the  teacher 
should  be  conscious  of  his  methods,  and  seek  to  criticise  and 
perfect  them.  However,  during  the  conduct  of  the  recitation, 
emphasis  should  be  on  what  is  being  accomplished  rather  than 
on  the  means  of  accomplishment.  To  use  an  analogy,  the  skilled 
marksman  must  develop  his  technique  to  an  extraordinary  de- 
gree, but  the  target  at  which  he  is  aiming  must  be  in  the  focus 
of  his  consciousness,  if  he  is  to  hit  the  mark. 

The  following  are  examples  of  aims  that  emphasize  primarily 
the  how  of  instruction,  rather  than  the  what  or  the  why,  and 
hence  are  in  reality  methods  of  attaining  certain  desired 
results: 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  English)  is  to  apply  the  principles  of 
grammar  recently  studied,  in  reading  the  selections  for  the  day's 
work." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  chemistry)  is  to  correlate  the  laboratory 
work  with  the  text-book  work." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  German)  is  to  find  out  how  much  the 
class  knows  in  order  to  plan  out  future  work."  (Comment, — the 
latter  part  of  this  statement  is  the  object  which  the  teacher  has  in 


THE  LESSON  PLAN  351 


view;  the  testing  of  the  knowledge  of  the  pupil  is  merely  a  means  for 
obtaining  this  object.) 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  physics)  is  to  test  the  knowledge  of  the 
class,  and  to  explain  the  problems."  (Comment, — to  test,  and  to 
explain  are  primarily  methods.) 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  Latin)  is  to  put  into  use  the  principles 
of  the  previous  lesson;  to  give  a  thorough  review  on  the  first  three 
lessons,  and  to  drill  on  new  forms."  (Comment, — what  object  has 
the  teacher  that  leads  him  to  use  these  methods  of  instruction?) 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  history)  is  to  drill  the  class  on  the  facts 
concerning  courts,  the  feudal  system,  taxation,  the  Great  Charter, 
the  power  of  the  king,  and  certain  changes  in  the  English  language." 

"The  aim  of  this  lesson  (in  history)  is  to  develop  with  the  class  the 
reasons  for  Athenian  supremacy."  (Comment, — why  "develop" 
rather  than  test  the  class  as  to  what  it  knows  about  Athenian  su- 
premacy, or  tell  the  class  the  essential  facts? — Obviously  the  teacher 
must  have  some  aim  that  is  better  realized  in  his  opinion  by  develop- 
ing the  facts  than  by  using  other  methods  of  instruction.) 

The  Methods  by  which  the  Aims  of  the  Lesson  are  to  be 
Realized  is  the  Second  Essential  of  a  Well-constructed 
Plan. — As  we  have  already  pointed  out  in  our  previous  discus- 
sion, the  three  general  methods  of  instruction  are  testing  the 
knowledge  and  skill  of  the  pupil;  drilling  the  pupil  until  a  desired 
perfection  in  both  knowledge  and  skill  is  obtained;  and  acquaint- 
ing the  pupil  with  new  facts,  principles,  and  methods  of  pro- 
cedure. Since  these  phases  of  instruction  have  been  extensively 
discussed,  they  need  no  further  elaboration.  There  are,  how- 
ever, several  important  principles  which  concern  method  that 
may  properly  be  taken  up  at  this  point.  Some  of  these  con- 
siderations have  been  indirectly  touched  upon  in  discussing  the 
nature  of  a  good  aim. 

(a)  Like  the  aim,  the  method,  is  often  poorly  thought  out  and 
inadequately  formulated. — Sometimes  it  is  stated  in  such  a  formal 
and  obvious  way  as  to  be  of  little  or  no  value  to  the  teacher,  as 
for  example, — "I  shall  ask  a  few  questions  in  order  to  bring  out 


352  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

the  principal  points,"  or  "I  shall  go  over  the  proofs  as  set  forth 
in  the  day's  lesson.' '  Again,  the  method  like  the  aim  may  be 
too  general;  that  is,  not  outlined  in  sufficient  detail,  as  for  ex- 
ample,— "For  the  most  part,  my  method  is  by  question  and 
answer,"  or  "I  intend  to  bring  out  the  important  points  in  the 
myths  of  to-day's  lesson  by  oral  work  on  grammar  and  by  oral 
composition,"  or  "I  shall  attempt  to  train  the  ear  by  the  read- 
ing of  Davis'  Gallegher."  Surely  the  teachers  who  have  out- 
lined these  methods  have  expressed  in  no  clear  way  the  practical 
steps  in  their  procedure. 

The  method  may  also  have  little  coherence  and  organization, 
the  various  steps  having  slight  relation  and  developing  in  no 
certain  direction;  as  for  example, — "My  method  will  consist 
in  a  test  for  knowledge;  in  blackboard  work;  in  questions  asked 
of  various  pupils  to  lead  them  to  think,  and  in  drill  on  some  of 
the  points  that  seem  to  be  obscure."  Often,  too,  the  method 
may  consist  of  an  amplification  of  the  aim,  and  not  of  a  clear 
outline  of  the  procedure  by  which  the  aim  is  to  be  attained. 

For  example,  the  aim  in  teaching  a  lesson  in  mechanics  may  be  to 
consider  the  principles  involved  in  the  operation  of  the  lever,  but  the 
statement  that  this  object  will  be  accomplished  by  a  presentation  of 
the  nature  of  levers  is  not  properly  a  description  of  method.  It  is 
simply  a  more  detailed  statement  of  the  aim  and  gives  no  adequate 
idea  of  the  how  of  instruction.  On  the  other  hand,  the  statement 
that  the  principles  of  the  lever  will  be  brought  out  by  a  class  demon- 
stration of  the  mechanics  of  a  balance,  a  crowbar,  a  nut-cracker,  etc. 
gives  some  definite  idea  as  to  how  the  instruction  is  to  proceed. 

In  a  like  manner,  the  aim  in  teaching  a  lesson  in  English  literature 
may  be  to  help  the  class  form  a  vivid  picture  of  the  scenes  in  Snow- 
Bound.  However,  the  further  statement  that  this  will  be  accom- 
plished by  calling  the  attention  of  the  class  in  detail  to  certain  stanzas 
of  the  poem  is  only  a  more  definite  statement  of  the  aim.  The  method 
concerns  itself  with  how  these  details  are  to  be  presented.  Perhaps 
pictures  may  be  used ;  perhaps  pupils  will  be  asked  to  recall  in  imagina- 


THE   LESSON  PLAN  353 

tion  winter  scenes  that  they  have  experienced;  perhaps  they  will  be 
asked  to  make  a  rough  drawing  of  the  scene  around  the  fireplace,  or 
will  be  required  to  state  in  their  own  words  the  picture  as  they  per- 
ceive it;  or,  finally,  to  make  a  list  of  the  descriptive  adjectives  em- 
ployed, and  to  explain  their  meaning. 

(b)  On  the  whole,  the  most  important  characteristic  of  a  good 
method  is  that  it  shall  carry  out  in  sufficient  detail  the  aims  of  the 
recitation. — Teachers  differ  greatly  in  their  ability  to  formulate 
clearly  their  methods  in  terms  of  the  objects  of  the  lesson. 
Some  give  a  most  indefinite  and  general  statement,  often  hav- 
ing little  bearing  on  their  avowed  aims;  while  others  have  a  cer- 
tain genius  in  formulating  the  means  by  which  their  purposes 
are  to  be  achieved.  The  following  examples  are  illustrations 
of  methods  that  are  carefully  related  to  the  aims  of  the  lesson 
and  worked  out  in  reasonable  detail: — 

Aim. — The  subject  of  this  lesson  is  taxation  as  a  cause  of  the 
French  Revolution.  My  aim  is  to  make  the  pupils  understand  in 
the  first  place,  what  taxes  are;  in  the  second  place,  what  they  are  used 
for;  in  the  third  place,  how  they  are  raised;  and  finally,  why  taxation 
should  sometimes  be  a  cause  for  war. 

Method.— When  the  class  assembles,  I  shall  pass  out  sheets  of 
paper  for  the  purpose  of  having  a  short  test.  This  test  will  require 
about  fifteen  minutes,  and  will  be  based  upon  the  reading  assigned  to 
be  done  outside  of  the  class.  The  following  questions  will  be  asked : — 
(i)  Give  proofs  that  the  burdens  of  taxation  were  unevenly  distrib- 
uted. (2)  Name  the  different  kinds  of  taxes  in  France  at  the  time 
of  the  French  Revolution.  (3)  What  were  the  direct  and  indirect 
taxes? — Explain  and  give  examples  of  each.  After  the  test  is  over, 
I  shall  begin  the  explanation  of  taxation  by  saying  that  the  city  of 

has  a  yearly  expense  of  about  $8, 000,000.00.    I  shall  then 

ask  how  this  money  is  expended,  so  directing  the  questions  that  I 
shall  receive  such  answers  as  the  following:  "To  keep  the  city  streets 
clean;"  "to  pay  the  salaries  of  city  officials;"  "to  maintain  the  public 
schools;"  "to  provide  the  enforcement  of  sanitary  rules  and  regula- 


354  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

tions;"  "to  maintain  a  fire  department,  and  a  police  force."  I  shall 
then  ask  the  question, — "How  does  the  city  secure  money  to  pay  for 
these  things?"  and  I  shall  naturally  expect  the  answer:  "Through 
taxes."  I  shall  then  ask  about  methods  of  assessing  taxes  and  secur- 
ing their  payment,  and  I  shall  compare  such  methods  with  those  em- 
ployed in  France  before  the  Revolution.  I  shall  finally  bring  out 
through  various  questions  the  fact  that  the  people  of  the  city  under 
discussion  do  not  as  a  rule  feel  that  taxation  is  a  heavy  burden,  and 
that  the  poor  are  practically  exempt  from  direct  taxes.  On  the  basis 
of  these  questions,  I  shall  attempt  to  contrast  the  condition  of  the 
French  people  with  that  of  those  in  the  local  community,  and  to  show 
how  excessive  and  burdensome  taxation  causes  discontent  and  may 
ultimately  lead  to  social  revolution.  In  emphasizing  this  last  point, 
I  shall  call  the  attention  of  the  class  to  the  burdens  of  taxation  that 
are  being  placed  on  the  shoulders  of  the  people  of  Europe  in  the  Great 
War,  and  suggest  possible  results  after  the  conclusion  of  peace. 

Aim. — The  subject  of  this  lesson  in  algebra  is  factoring,  and  the 
specific  aim  that  I  have  in  mind  is  to  show  in  detail  the  method  of 
factoring  the  sum  of  two  cubes. 

Method. — I  shall  recall  with  the  help  of  the  class  all  the  previous 
work  relating  definitely  to  this  topic  (it  would  have  been  well  if  the 
teacher  had  here  stated  what  definite  points  in  this  previous  work  he 
intended  to  emphasize).  I  shall  then  with  the  suggestion  of  the  class 
multiply  at  the  blackboard  factors  by  our  rules  of  special  products, 
and  show  that  these  factors  will  be  the  factors  of  the  sum  of  the 
cubes.  I  shall  do  several  examples  this  way  and  next  I  shall  take  the 
sum  of  two  cubes  and  discover  the  factors.  Then  we  shall  state  in 
our  own  words  the  principle  involved.  I  shall  devote  the  remainder 
of  the  hour  to  written  work,  with  the  pupils  at  their  seats,  after  the 
plan  of  supervised  study. 

In  contrast  to  these  definite  statements  of  method  in  terms  of  aims 
the  following  example  shows  the  uselessness  of  methods  that  have  no 
clear  connection  with  the  avowed  objects  of  the  recitation: — 

Aim. — My  aim  in  this  lesson  (in  algebra)  is  to  bring  out  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  absence  of  the  sign  between  two  parentheses. 

Method. — I  shall  first  give  the  class  a  brief  written  test  upon  the 
examples  for  today's  work.    I  shall  then  do  any  examples  of  any 


•  THE   LESSON  PLAN  355 

kind  that  are  asked  for;  and  I  shall  use  up  the  rest  of  the  time  by- 
asking  such  questions  as  these: — "What  must  we  remember  to  do 
first  in  all  examples?  "  "  What  must  we  remember  in  addition?  " 

(c)  The  method  should  further  give  a  statement  of  the  most  im- 
portant questions  to  be  asked. — It  should  distinguish  between 
questions  that  are  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  pupil,  or  for  emphasis  and  drill,  and  questions  that 
aim  to  develop  thought.  It  should  also  give  in  some  detail  a 
statement  of  illustrations  to  be  used,  and  demonstrations  to 
be  conducted,  as  well  as  the  method  of  procedure  in  these  demon- 
strations. It  should  further  describe  exactly  how  tests  are  to 
be  given  and  drill  exercises  to  be  conducted. 

The  Statement  of  the  Result  is  the  Third  Essential  of  the 
Lesson  Plan. — As  soon  as  possible  after  the  lesson  the  teacher 
should  record  the  results  obtained.  In  some  instances,  it  will 
be  possible  to  state  definitely  just  what  has  been  accomplished; 
more  often,  only  general  impressions  can  be  given.  There  are 
two  main  reasons  why  the  results  should  be  recorded.  In  the 
first  place,  it  is  highly  important  that  the  teacher  should  form 
as  clear  an  idea  as  possible  of  just  what  he  has  accomplished 
during  the  class  period.  He  should  set  down  all  definite  results, 
record  all  impressions,  and  subject  himself  to  a  frank  criticism. 
In  the  second  place,  the  recording  of  the  results  constitutes  an 
important  summary  of  achievement  to  which  he  may  refer 
from  time  to  time  as  the  work  progresses.  It  is  valuable  for 
him  to  know  just  what  happened  last  week,  last  month,  or  last 
year,  if  he  is  properly  to  understand  and  measure  his  progress. 

The  recording  of  results  varies  from  setting  down  fragmentary 
details  and  impressions,  to  rather  definite  statements.  The 
following  examples  illustrate  a  rather  wide  range  in  records  of 
this  character: — 

"The  results  were  very  satisfactory  today."  (Comment, — not 
particularly  valuable  or  suggestive.) 


356  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

"The  great  difficulty  in  this  class  seems  to  be  to  keep  the  whole 
class  working  all  the  time.  The  lesson  today  was  a  hard  one  on  me, 
because  I  made  an  effort  to  keep  everyone  attentive."  (Comment, — 
more  detailed  and  helpful.) 

"The  attention  is  very  good,  but  the  work  is  poor.  The  same 
pupils  that  recite  poorly  are  handing  in  correct  examples  done  by  a 
different  method  than  the  one  that  I  demonstrated.  The  conclu- 
sion is  obvious." 

"The  results  in  this  class  were  appalling.  Some  failed  to  distin- 
guish between  east  and  west.  I  must  admit  that  the  map  was  far 
from  being  clear;  however,  the  work  at  the  map  was  so  slow  that  I 
covered  the  work  of  neither  the  advance  nor  the  review.  The  pupils 
seem  to  lean  on  me  when  they  say  proper  names.  The  spelling  and 
pronunciation  of  these  are  bad.  I  must  evidently  revise  my  method 
somewhat  with  special  reference  to  these  weak  points." 

"I  found  in  the  preparation  of  today's  lesson  that  some  pupils  spent 
two  hours  on  the  work ;  others  only  twenty  or  forty  minutes.  I  find  that 
those  that  do  the  best  work  are  those  who  report  spending  on  the  aver- 
age of  from  an  hour  to  an  hour  and  a  half  in  preparing  the  day's  lesson." 

"I  repeated  a  mistake  made  by  one  of  the  pupils.  I  know  that 
I  should  not  have  done  this.  In  declining  a  neuter  noun,  a  pupil  made 
a  mistake  in  giving  the  accusative;  when  I  asked  the  gender,  the  mis- 
take was  immediately  corrected.  Would  it  not  have  been  better  to 
have  asked  the  gender  in  the  first  place?" 

"In  the  work  of  the  laboratory,  pupils  have  found  it  hard  to  keep 
in  mind  the  object  of  the  experiment  while  performing  it,  so  I  have 
tried  the  following  scheme  for  the  past  two  weeks:  I  have  written 
upon  the  blackboard  the  object,  and  other  information  necessary  to 
the  formulation  of  a  proper  report,  and  I  have  taken  pains  to  em- 
phasize what  I  have  written.  The  results  so  far  have  been  good; 
more  of  the  pupils  seem  to  realize  that  the  experiment  actually  has 
an  object;  the  reports  are  written  up  in  a  more  satisfactory  fashion, 
and  in  subsequent  discussions,  the  pupils  seem  to  have  a  rather  clear 
idea  of  what  they  have  been  doing." 

The  Prerequisites  of  a  Good  Lesson  Plan. — In  our  previous 
discussions,  we  have  emphasized  in  considerable  detail,  the 


THE   LESSON  PLAN  357 


objects,  nature,  and  methods  of  construction  of  an  adequate 
lesson  plan.  In  concluding  this  chapter,  it  may  be  well  to  con- 
sider the  preparation  and  equipment  of  the  teacher  as  related 
to  his  ability  to  construct  such  a  plan. 

(a)  An  adequate  lesson  plan  is  based  on  a  comprehensive  and 
scholarly  view  of  the  subject  taught. — We  have  already  considered 
the  fact  that  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject  is  essential 
to  good  teaching.  Nowhere  is  this  knowledge  more  important 
than  in  the  making  out  of  a  daily  lesson  plan,  since  this  plan 
must  form  an  integral  part  in  the  development  of  a  course  as  a 
whole.  Hence,  the  teacher,  as  we  have  already  said,  must  know 
the  text-book  on  which  the  work  is  to  be  based  before  he  begins 
the  course.  He  should  likewise  acquaint  himself  with  other 
standard  texts  in  the  field  and  carefully  note  their  contents  and 
plan  of  presentation.  He  should  be  familiar  with  other  books 
bearing  on  his  subject,  and  as  far  as  possible  acquaint  himself 
with  the  latest  developments  of  his  subject,  which  perhaps  are 
not  yet  recorded  in  book  form.  In  terms  of  such  knowledge,  he 
can  then  decide  what  facts  are  most  essential  for  a  proper  under- 
standing of  the  subject,  and  on  this  basis  determine  in  part 
what  he  shall  present  to  his  class  and  what  emphasis  he  shall 
give  to  the  various  materials  presented. 

(b)  It  is  based  on  a  knowledge  of  the  interests,  needs,  and  capaci- 
ties of  the  pupil. — This  again  is  a  matter  that  has  been  previously 
discussed,  but  its  importance  is  so  great  that  there  is  little  danger 
of  making  it  too  emphatic.  Not  all  facts  that  are  desirable  to 
know  can  be  impressed  on  the  pupil.  Those  that  do  not  in- 
terest him,  and  those  in  which  he  can  be  made  to  have  interest 
only  with  great  difficulty,  if  at  all,  must  be  rejected.  Many 
things,  too,  that  the  learner  might  find  attractive  but  which 
will  probably  be  of  little  use  to  him,  must  be  rejected,  for  interest 
must  be  considered  as  a  means  to  an  end  rather  than  a  final 
goal  of  instruction. 

(c)  It  is  based  on  a  knowledge  of  method. — Many  high  school 


358  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

teachers  today  have  a  satisfactory  knowledge  of  their  subject, 
a  considerable  number  have  a  conception  of  the  nature  and 
limitations  of  the  minds  of  their  pupils,  both  as  individuals  and 
as  members  of  a  group,  but  relatively  few  have  given  adequate 
consideration  to  the  best  form  of  presenting  their  subject.  Ap- 
parently many  teachers  of  language  have  no  knowledge  of  the 
"direct  method,"  or,  if  they  have  such  knowledge,  they  have 
acquired  no  skill  in  its  use.  Much  has  been  written  in  recent 
years  about  teaching  science  and  the  manual  arts  by  "projects." 
How  many  high  school  teachers  can  define  this  term,  or  give 
concrete  illustrations  of  its  use?  Just  at  present  there  is  much 
agitation  in  regard  to  individual  methods  of  instruction.  How 
far  has  this  discussion  influenced  the  average  high  school  teacher 
in  the  conduct  of  his  classes? 

How  should  geometry  be  taught?  As  an  independent  sub- 
ject, or  in  connection  with  algebra?  What  amount  of  time 
should  be  given  to  construction;  to  training  in  perception  of 
spatial  relationships,  proportions,  and  magnitude;  to  applica- 
tion through  concrete  problems,  and  so  on?  Has  the  teacher  of 
mathematics  considered  these  matters? 

What  amount  of  time  should  be  given  to  instruction  in  oral 
English  and  how  should  it  be  taught?  Should  the  approach 
to  English  literature  be  through  the  English  classics,  or  through 
modern  poetry  and  prose?  How  should  expression  be  related 
to  appreciation?  These  are  a  few  of  the  questions  that  every 
English  teacher  should  comprehend  and  consider. 

What  place  has  the  "library  method"  in  teaching  history? 
How  can  this  subject  be  made  more  vital  to  the  pupil?  How 
should  local  history  be  taught?  What  relation  has  history  to 
civics  and  economics?  Such  problems  as  these  should  at  least 
be  familiar  to  the  teacher  of  this  subject. 

In  physics,  chemistry,  and  biology,  what  relation  should  there 
be  between  the  recitation  and  the  work  in  the  laboratory? 
What  is  the  best  and  most  economical  technique  in  the  labora- 


THE   LESSON  PLAN  359 

tory  exercises?  What  is  the  function  of  the  note-book?  How 
and  when  should  it  be  written  up?    What  form  should  it  have? 

There  is  no  subject  in  the  high  school  curriculum  that  does 
not  present  its  definite  problems  in  methods  of  presentation. 
The  teacher  should  acquaint  himself  with  these  problems  and 
the  manner  of  their  solution.  He  need  not  try  every  suggestion 
that  is  brought  forth,  but  he  should  know  something  about  the 
most  important  of  these  suggestions,  and  if  opportunity  offer  he 
should  try  out  those  that  seem  to  be  the  most  promising.  Per- 
haps after  learning  about  the  direct  method,  he  will  still  keep  to 
the  grammatical  method  of  teaching  German  or  French  or  Latin, 
but  he  should  in  his  own  mind  justify  his  choice.  He  may  read 
the  many  discussions  concerning  the  teaching  of  high  school 
mathematics,  and  end  as  he  began  by  treating  geometry  purely 
as  an  exercise  in  logic,  but  he  should  have  a  clear  reason  for  do- 
ing this.  Projects  in  general  science  may  appear  to  him  as  too 
difficult  and  time-consuming  to  warrant  their  use,  but  at  least  he 
should  know  why  the  project  method  is  sometimes  used,  and 
what  results  are  claimed  for  it.  Not  all  new  things  are  the  best 
things,  but  a  knowledge  of  these  new  things  cannot  safely  be 
dispensed  with. 

For  this  reason,  as  has  previously  been  urged,  the  teacher 
must  know  the  educational  literature  in  his  special  subject. 
He  must  be  acquainted  through  books  and  journals  with  what 
his  colleagues  are  thinking  and  doing.  Even  though  he  does 
not  have  such  an  acquaintance,  he  may  teach  well,  but  he  will 
teach  blindly.  If  he  does  plan  his  work  effectively  under  such 
circumstances,  it  will  be  because  of  lucky  chance,  rather  than 
because  of  insight  and  systematic  comprehension;  and  he  should 
remember  that,  as  a  rule,  chance  is  a  blind  alley. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

SUPERVISED    STUDY 

The  Teachers  Function  is  Broader  than  that  of  a  Hearer 
of  Lessons. — At  various  points  in  our  previous  discussions  we 
have  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  teacher  conceives  his  func- 
tion too  largely  as  that  of  a  hearer  of  lessons,  and  too  little  as 
that  of  a  director  of  the  intellectual  activities  of  his  pupils. 

In  a  discussion  in  The  Ladies'  Home  Journal l  a  correspondent  re- 
ports a  conversation  between  a  widow  and  a  school  superintendent 
in  which  the  widow  says,  "I  have  four  little  girls  attending  your 
schools.  I  am  up  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  get  them  off  to 
school  and  to  get  myself  off  to  work.  It  is  six  o'clock  in  the  evening 
when  I  reach  home  again,  pretty  well  worn  out,  and  after  we  have 
had  dinner  and  have  tidied  up  the  house  a  bit,  it  is  eight  o'clock. 
Then,  tired  as  I  am,  I  sit  down  and  teach  the  little  girls  the  lessons 
your  teachers  will  hear  them  say  over  on  the  following  day.  Now,  if 
it  is  all  the  same  to  you,  it  would  be  a  great  help  and  favor  to  me  if 
you  will  have  your  teachers  teach  the  lessons  during  the  day,  and 
then  all  I  would  have  to  do  at  night  would  be  to  hear  them  say  them 
over." 

This  brings  out  a  most  essential  and  fundamental  point.  It 
is  the  teacher  who  should  aid  and  lead  his  pupils  in  their  scholarly 
pursuits;  he  should  not  appear,  more  than  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary, as  an  umpire  in  the  game  of  learning,  or  as  a  taskmaster, 
who  exacts  his  due.  More  and  more  it  is  being  recognized  that 
the  teacher  must  be  a  teacher  in  the  only  meaning  in  which 
the  word  can  be  justly  used,— namely,  in  the  sense  of  one  who 

1  January,  1913. 
360 


SUPERVISED   STUDY  36 1 

helps  those  under  his  instruction  to  secure  knowledge,  to  acquire 
skill,  to  obtain  insight,  and  to  gain  appreciation.  During  the 
conduct  of  the  recitation  such  help  shows  itself  in  properly  con- 
ducted and  economical  drill,  in  telling,  explaining,  and  illustrat- 
ing important  facts,  in  demonstrating  methods  of  procedure, 
and  developing  with  the  class  ideas,  principles,  points  of  view, 
and  attitudes  of  thought  and  feeling. 

Until  recently  the  help  that  the  teacher  gave  his  pupils  has 
been  largely  confined  to  these  above-mentioned  objects.  How- 
ever, it  is  being  seen  more  and  more  clearly  that  the  most  im- 
portant aid  that  the  teacher  can  give  to  his  pupils  is  to  show 
them  how  to  go  about  their  work  in  the  most  efficient  manner. 
Hence,  we  are  hearing  much  today  about  supervised  study, 
about  the  reasons  for  it,  the  methods  to  be  used  and  the  results 
to  be  achieved.  As  a  consequence,  in  some  high  schools,  though 
as  yet  in  but  a  few,  organized  attempts  are  found  to  make  super- 
vised study  one  of  the  important  functions  of  teaching. 

Reasons  for  Supervised  Study. — There  are  various  reasons 
why  supervised  study  in  the  high  school  is  desirable.  Among 
these  the  following  are  important: — 

(a)  The  physical  conditions  of  the  home  often  make  concentra- 
tion on  the  assigned  lessons  extremely  difficult,  and  at  times  prac- 
tically impossible. — In  a  previous  chapter  we  have  discussed  the 
fact  that  in  many  instances  the  pupils  live  in  cramped  and 
squalid  surroundings.  The  home  has  but  a  few  rooms,  and  these 
are  used  for  general  purposes.  They  are  poorly  lighted,  badly 
heated  and  ventilated,  and  inadequately  furnished.  Worse 
than  this  there  may  be  several  or  many  persons  in  the  room  in 
which  the  pupil  is  trying  to  do  his  work.  Thus  the  pupil  has 
no  place  in  which  to  study.  No  business  man  could  do  efficient 
work  under  similar  conditions.  It  is  a  wonder  that  pupils  in 
such  homes  accomplish  anything  at  all.  But  not  only  in  the 
homes  of  the  poor  do  we  find  unsatisfactory  physical  conditions. 
It  is  probably  an  exception  that  the  high  school  pupil  has  a  room 


362  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

entirely  to  himself  in  which  he  may  do  his  studying.  Often  he 
sits  around  the  library  table  with  his  brothers  and  sisters,  doing 
his  school  work.  His  parents  are  also  frequently  present,  and 
there  are  many  distractions  and  interruptions.  Under  such 
circumstances  he  finds  it  extremely  difficult  to  get  down  to  work, 
and  to  keep  at  his  tasks  with  concentrated  and  sustained  effort. 
Thus,  he  wastes  much  time  and  acquires  undesirable  habits  of 
study. 

(b)  Home  study  tends  toward  irregular  habits  of  work. — The 
pupil  who  does  his  work  at  home  as  a  rule  studies  when  it  fits 
into  his  other  plans  and  those  of  his  parents.  Often  he  has  no 
regular  study  hours.  At  times  he  postpones  his  work  until  the 
last  minute,  and  gets  what  he  can  in  a  feverish  hour  of  effort, 
sometimes  before  breakfast  or  even  during  the  meal  itself. 
On  some  evenings  he  may  study;  on  others  he  goes  out  with 
his  friends,  or  "takes  in  a  show."  When  he  remains  at  home 
his  work  is  often  interrupted  by  visits  from  companions.  Fre- 
quently his  parents  are  away  and  he  is  left  to  his  own  devices. 
All  of  this  irregularity  makes  against  proper  habits  of  work. 
It  is  a  wonderful  aid  to  study  to  have  a  definite  place  and  a 
fixed  time  for  doing  school  tasks.  The  learner  soon  gets  accus- 
tomed to  work  under  systematic  conditions  of  study,  and  the 
difficulties  of  getting  down  to  his  lessons  are  correspondingly 
diminished.  When  once  he  has  achieved  a  habit  of  regular 
work  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  do  this  work  at  the  customary  time 
and  in  the  customary  place.  He  thus  acquires  a  propensity  for 
work,  just  as  he  acquires  a  propensity  for  procrastination  when 
he  has  no  fixed  habits  of  study. 

(c)  When  the  pupil  is  not  directed  in  his  work  he  often  acquires 
blundering  and  wasteful  methods  of  study. — In  all  learning  blind 
trial  and  error  is  an  extremely  wasteful  and  unsatisfactory 
method  of  acquisition.  It  is  wasteful,  since  much  unnecessary 
energy  is  consumed  in  getting  results  that  could  be  obtained 
equally  well  in  much  less  time,  if  the  learner  had  some  idea  of 


SUPERVISED  STUDY  363 

how  to  go  about  his  work.  It  is  unsatisfactory,  since  rarely 
does  the  learner  under  these  conditions  of  undirected  effort  ac- 
quire the  best  methods  of  study.  He  blunders  on  ways  of  doing 
his  school  tasks,  but  seldom  knows  whether  or  not  they  are  the 
best  methods.  Indeed,  he  seldom  considers  the  question  of 
using  proper  methods.  The  problem  is  usually  one  of  which 
he  has  little  comprehension.  Consequently  inefficient  habits 
of  study  result  from  haphazard  methods  hit  upon  by  the  student 
who  is  working  without  guidance. 

(d)  The  learner  is  often  given  unwise  aid  by  parents  or  friends. — 
At  times,  when  the  pupil  is  not  left  to  his  own  devices,  he  is 
aided  by  parents  or  friends.  It  is  a  common  practice  for  the 
pupil  to  ask  the  aid  of  his  father  or  mother  in  preparing  his  work 
for  the  next  day.  Frequently  this  aid  consists  in  the  helper's 
doing  the  work  in  whole  or  in  part  for  the  pupil,  not  in  showing 
him  how  to  do  the  work  himself.  Such  aid  is  clearly  undesirable. 
Instead  of  impressing  knowledge,  developing  skill,  and  stimulat- 
ing ability,  it  smothers  initiative  and  kills  effort.  Pupils  who 
rely  on  others  to  do  their  tasks  for  them  are  as  a  rule  poor  pupils. 
Frequently  classmates  get  together  to  work  out  their  lessons. 
This  again  is  seldom  productive  of  the  best  results.  When 
several  are  working  together,  much  is  apt  to  be  discussed  that 
does  not  concern  the  lesson.  Further,  the  bright  pupils  are 
sure  to  do  most  of  the  work,  while  those  of  less  ability  or  zeal 
follow  or  copy.  For  the  bright  pupil  this  is  generally  a  waste 
of  time,  and  for  the  dull  pupil  a  barrier  to  self-activity. 

(e)  Individual  differences  in  capacity  demand  individual  meth- 
ods of  help. — One  of  the  most  striking  results  in  recent  investiga- 
tions in  educational  psychology  is  that  pupils  of  the  same  age 
and  grade  differ  greatly  in  general  and  in  particular  abilities. 
The  teacher  may  profitably  spend  a  part  of  each  recitation 
period  in  instructing  the  class  as  a  whole  in  methods  of  work  for 
the  next  day's  lesson,  but  under  these  conditions  his  instruction 
is  directed  toward  the  entire  group;  it  cannot  consider  indi- 


364  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

vidual  capacities  and  needs.  It  is  desirable  to  give  this  general 
help,  but  the  problem  of  individual  aid  cannot  be  solved  in  the 
group  assignment.  In  the  supervised  study  period  the  teacher 
has  the  opportunity  of  directing  his  attention  toward  indi- 
viduals.. 

(f)  Recent  investigations  have  clearly  shown  the  value  of  super- 
vised study. — Not  only  do  the  observations  of  daily  experience 
and  the  conclusions  of  common-sense  clearly  indicate  the  de- 
sirability of  supervised  study,  but  the  findings  of  experimental 
education  give  support  to  these  observations  and  conclusions. 
The  majority  of  pupils  do  better  work  when  their  study  is 
properly  directed.  In  particular  the  medium  and  the  poor  pupils 
show  decided  improvement  under  supervision. 

Minnick  *  taught  two  classes  in  plane  geometry,  in  one  of  which 
the  work  was  supervised  and  in  the  other  unsupervised.  The  weekly 
averages  of  recitation  grades  over  a  period  of  fifteen  weeks  showed  the 
division  which  had  supervised  study  to  be  superior.  Mid-term  and 
final  examinations  also  showed  the  same  fact.  Wiener  2  found  great 
advantage  in  using  divided  sixty-minute  periods,  thirty  minutes  of 
which  were  devoted  to  study  under  supervision.  Principal  Brown 
of  Joliet,  111.,  who  for  some  years  has  employed  supervised  study  in 
his  high  school  says, — "Tabulation  is  made  of  all  these  teachers' 
reports  at  the  close  of  the  semester  and  an  opportunity  is  given  for 
comparing  one  semester's  work  with  another  for  the  past  four  or  five 
years.  The  past  semester  which  ended  in  June,  1914,  showed  thirty- 
eight  different  classes  in  which  there  were  no  failures.  It  shows  that 
the  percentage  of  failures  is  gradually  being  reduced  to  a  minimum."  3 

Other  investigators  have  arrived  at  conclusions  similar  to 
those  cited  above. 

Objections  to  Supervised  Study. — Although  there  is  general 
agreement  among  those  competent  to  judge  that  supervised 

1  School  Review,  Vol.  XXI.,  pp.  670-675  (1913). 

iJbid.,  Vol.  XX.,  pp.  526-531  (1912). 

3  School  and  Home  Education,  February,  191 5,  p.  207. 


SUPERVISED   STUDY  365 

study  is  desirable,  certain  objections  have  been  raised  against 
this  reform  in  our  prevailing  school  practice.  Among  these 
objections  the  following  most  merit  consideration: — 

(a)  Supervised  study  does  not  promote  self-reliance  on  the  part 
of  the  learner. — This  is  an  objection  that  is  often  heard  from 
teachers  who  are  not  in  sympathy  with  the  reform.  "The  pupil 
should  do  his  work  himself,"  they  affirm,  "and  not  have  some 
one  constantly  at  his  elbow  to  help  him."  This  objection  is 
based  on  a  misunderstanding  of  the  aims  and  methods  of  super- 
vised study,  which  seek  to  acquaint  the  learner  with  the  details 
of  correct  procedure,  to  train  him  in  proper  habits,  to  clear  up 
his  misunderstandings,  and  to  help  him  overcome  difficulties 
that  he  cannot  surmount  unaided.  Supervised  study  does  not 
aim  to  do  the  pupil's  work  for  him.  From  what  we  have  already 
said  in  regard  to  the  unsatisfactory  conditions  of  home  study 
it  is  evident  that  the  pupil  who  is  left  to  his  own  devices  is  more 
in  danger  of  receiving  undesirable  forms  of  aid  than  is  the  pupil 
who  does  his  work  under  the  direction  of  his  teacher. 

(b)  It  consumes  too  much  of  the  teacher's  time. — "How  is  it 
possible,"  it  is  asked,  "for  the  teacher  to  do  the  work  required 
of  him  in  other  particulars  and  still  to  give  a  considerable  part 
of  his  time  to  directing  the  study  of  his  pupils?"  There  are 
two  answers  to  this  objection.  In  the  first  place,  supervised 
study  should  be  considered  a  part  of  the  teacher's  regular  duties, 
a  part  as  important  as  his  class  instruction,  and  in  making  out 
the  teacher's  schedule,  the  principal  should  recognize  this  fact. 
He  should  not  demand  additional  work  from  the  teacher,  he 
should  merely  distribute  it  differently.  In  the  second  place, 
much  of  the  time  now  devoted  to  the  recitation  may  be  elimi- 
nated when  supervised  study  is  introduced,  since  during  the 
supervised  study  period  some  of  those  things  can  be  accom- 
plished that  are  at  present  given  over  to  the  recitation. 

Testing  for  knowledge  and  individual  drill,  both  of  which  are 
important  parts  of  the  typical  high  school  recitation,  may  be 


366  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

largely  assigned  to  the  supervised  study  period.  Testing  the 
knowledge  of  the  pupil  is  for  the  most  part  made  necessary 
because  of  the  fact  that  by  this  means  alone  can  the  teacher 
find  out  the  progress  of  the  pupil,  discover  his  difficulties,  and 
hold  him  down  to  work.  In  the  supervised  study  period  the 
teacher  has  a  direct  means  of  acquainting  himself  with  what 
the  learner  is  accomplishing.  Under  these  circumstances  the 
teacher  is  certain  that  what  the  pupil  is  doing  is  being  done  on 
his  own  initiative  and  with  adequate  concentration.  Indeed, 
these  results  can  be  better  secured  by  supervised  study  than  by 
means  of  the  ordinary  recitation.  Further,  when  the  teacher 
finds  during  the  study  period  that  the  pupil  is  weak  in  certain 
particulars,  the  necessary  drill  can  be  given  him  to  overcome  his 
weakness, — a  much  more  economical  procedure  than  giving  him 
this  practice  during  the  recitation  at  the  expense  of  the  other 
members  of  the  class.  Thus,  testing  for  knowledge  and  in- 
dividual drill  will  be  largely  eliminated  from  the  recitation  when 
supervised  study  is  systematically  developed,  and  the  class 
period,  considerably  reduced  in  length,  will  be  devoted  to  those 
matters  that  more  particularly  concern  group  instruction. 

(c)  It  imposes  an  additional  expense  on  the  school,  since  it 
requires  a  larger  force  of  teachers. — This  is  a  practical  objection 
that  has  been  urged  against  supervised  study;  however,  it  is  an 
objection  that  is  not  without  an  answer.  In  the  first  place,  in- 
creased expense  should  not  be  considered  as  the  determining 
factor  in  educational  progress.  If  supervised  study  is  highly 
desirable,  means  should  be  secured  for  providing  it.  In  the 
second  place,  the  cost  of  establishing  supervised  study  would 
not  be  great  in  most  instances.  Much  can  be  accomplished  by 
dividing  the  recitation  period  into  two  equal  parts,  and  devoting 
half  of  it  to  supervised  study.  This  change  would  necessitate 
no  additional  teachers.  Again,  when  supervised  study  is  in- 
stalled, the  general  study  hall  becomes  obsolete,  and  the  time 
of  the  teacher  who  has  this  study  hall  in  charge  is  left  free  for 


SUPERVISED  STUDY  367 

genuine  supervised  study.  Here  again  there  is  no  additional 
expense  incurred.  It  is  probable  that  in  most  medium-sized 
and  large  high  schools,  the  addition  of  from  five  to  ten  per  cent, 
in  the  teaching  force  would  be  adequate  for  the  installation  of 
a  thorough  system  of  supervised  study. 

(d)  It  increases  the  length  of  the  school  day. — There  are  two 
different  answers  to  this  objection.  It  may  be  urged  with  much 
justification  that  such  an  increase  is  desirable;  that  it  would  be 
much  better  for  the  pupil  if  the  high  school  were  an  all-day 
school;  if  all  his  activities,  whether  physical  or  mental,  were 
under  the  supervision  of  his  teachers.  Since,  however,  it  is 
not  probable  that  the  all-day  high  school  will  soon  be  established, 
we  must  meet  the  objection  by  denying  that  under  a  rationally 
conducted  system  of  supervised  study,  any  considerable  increase 
in  the  school  day  would  be  made  necessary.  Many  high  schools 
have  at  present  a  session  of  from  &ve  to  six  hours,  and  with  a 
six-hour  session  it  is  quite  possible  to  install  an  adequate  system 
of  supervised  study.  The  average  high  school  pupil  at  present 
has  four  recitation  periods  a  day  of  forty-five  minutes  each, 
consuming  a  total  of  three  hours.  He  has,  perhaps  a  half  hour 
for  lunch  and  recess,  and  the  remainder  of  his  time  is  occupied 
by  study  and  laboratory  work.  Assuming  that  the  school  day 
covers  six  hours,  five  hours  and  twenty  minutes  of  this  could 
reasonably  be  devoted  to  intellectual  work.  Thus,  if  the  pupil 
had  on  the  average  four  lessons  a  day,  eighty  minutes  could  be 
devoted  to  each  subject,  from  twenty  to  thirty  of  which  could 
be  given  to  the  group  recitation,  and  the  remainder  to  study. 
Probably  few  high  school  pupils  spend  over  an  hour  in  effective 
work  in  preparing  the  average  assignment,  and  if  this  is  true, 
fifty  minutes  of  supervised  study  ought  to  be  ample  for  the  prep- 
aration of  most  lessons.  When  the  class  period  is  freed  from 
those  activities  which  could  easily  be  much  better  performed  in 
the  supervised  study  period,  a  half  hour  will  prove  an  adequate 
time  for  the  recitation. 


368     INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

(e)  It  necessitates  additional  school  rooms. — Here  again  is  a 
practical  objection  of  considerable  importance.  In  many  school 
buildings  there  are  recitation  rooms  which  are  capable 
of  holding  approximately  one  hundred  pupils.  Under  present 
conditions,  these  are  frequently  used  as  study  halls.  There 
are  also  smaller  rooms  in  which  one  class  recites  while 
another  group  is  studying.  Under  any  well-conceived  plan  of 
supervised  study,  preparation  of  lessons  in  the  large  hall  and 
in  the  rooms  in  which  a  recitation  is  being  conducted  will  be 
discontinued.  The  latter  practice  is,  of  course,  the  more  objec- 
tionable, since  the  teacher,  the  pupils  who  are  reciting,  and  the 
pupils  who  are  studying  are  subject  to  distraction,  and  since 
further  the  teacher  can  give  no  attention  to  the  study  pupils, 
who  work  without  direction. 

The  difficulty  in  most  of  our  high  schools  today  is  not  so 
much  a  lack  of  room,  as  a  lack  of  its  proper  distribution.  The 
difficulty  of  adequate  space  for  supervised  study  is  in  part  over- 
come by  the  scheme  of  extending  the  recitation  period  and  de- 
voting one  part  of  it  to  the  ordinary  functions  of  the  lesson, 
and  the  other  part  to  supervised  study.  When  the  large  study 
halls  are  used,  the  pupils  may  be  divided  into  several  groups, 
and  a  teacher  assigned  to  each  group.  Such  devices  as  these 
should  be  considered  as  temporary  expedients,  however.  In 
the  plans  of  new  high  school  buildings,  there  should  be  provision 
for  an  adequate  number  of  small  rooms,  rooms  seating  not  more 
than  thirty-five  pupils.  Such  rooms  may  be  used  either  for 
recitation  or  for  supervised  study.  Larger  rooms  may  be  pro- 
vided for  lectures,  demonstrations,  drill  classes,  and  school  as- 
semblies. 

Forms  of  Supervised  Study.— In  practically  all  high  schools, 
pupils  have  free  periods  which  they  are  required  to  devote  to 
study.  In  a  few  schools  there  is  such  a  free  period  for  all  the 
pupils  at  the  same  time,  but  as  a  rule  these  free  periods  are 
distributed  throughout  the  school  day,  and  in  individual  in- 


SUPERVISED   STUDY  369 

stances  are  determined  by  the  pupil's  program  of  study.  Con- 
sequently at  any  hour  in  the  day,  some  pupils  will  be  reciting 
in  the  classroom,  or  working  in  the  laboratory  or  shop,  while 
others  will  be  engaged  in  study.  Study  under  these  conditions 
is  supervised  only  in  the  sense  that  a  teacher  is  present  to  main- 
tain order,  and  in  rare  instances  to  answer  questions  and  give 
aid.  As  we  have  already  said,  this  study  is  generally  conducted 
in  a  large  room  known  as  a  study  hall,  or  in  smaller  rooms  in 
which  a  recitation  is  at  the  same  time  being  held.  In  the  latter 
case,  however,  there  is  no  question  of  supervision  in  any  sense 
of  the  word.  The  teacher  gives  attention  to  the  study  pupils 
only  when  there  is  a  positive  breach  of  order.  He  has  no  op- 
portunity to  give  them  further  consideration. 

Any  real  aid  that  is  given  to  pupils  in  preparing  their  work 
under  conditions  such  as  those  described  above  is  usually  effected 
by  keeping  certain  pupils  after  school.  Only  those  pupils  are 
required  to  remain  who  show  clear  evidences  of  not  doing  their 
work  well.  Further,  this  device  is  regarded  by  most  pupils  in 
the  light  of  a  punishment,  rather  than  as  a  kindly  office  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher.  Thus,  the  attitude  with  which  the  pupil 
approaches  his  study  is  often  negative,  and  at  times  partly 
rebellious.  The  teacher,  too,  is  apt  to  consider  this  part  of  his 
work  as  a  burden,  and  consequently  to  confine  it  to  those  who 
most  need  it.  He  cannot  extend  it  to  all  pupils  who  would  re- 
ceive benefit  from  it.  At  best,  it  is  a  makeshift,  and  cannot 
properly  be  considered  as  a  systematic  attempt  to  supervise 
study.  Of  the  devices  that  definitely  seek  to  direct  the  learning 
activities  of  the  pupil,  the  following  are  the  most  important: — 

(a)  The  unprepared  lesson. — This  device  has  great  merit, 
but  is  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  learner.  It  is  com- 
monly employed  in  such  subjects  as  foreign  language,  history, 
or  English,  although  it  may  be  used  in  any  subject  in  the  cur- 
riculum. In  these  subjects,  the  class  usually  recites  in  the  con- 
ventional manner  on  four  periods  during ,  the  week,  but  on  the 


370  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

fifth  period,  they  assemble  to  consider  an  advance  lesson  that 
has  not  been  previously  studied.  The  period  of  the  unprepared 
lesson  is  frequently  used  by  the  teacher  for  the  purposes  of  a 
general  assignment,  during  which  methods  of  study  may  be 
emphasized. 

The  writer  recalls  in  particular  an  unprepared  lesson  of  this  type 
in  a  class  in  Latin.  The  instructor,  a  man  of  great  skill  and  long  ex- 
perience, spent  the  entire  hour  in  showing  the  class  how  to  read  a 
passage  in  their  text  at  sight.  There  was  unusual  interest  in  the 
work,  and  the  results  were  excellent.  Unprepared  lessons  of  this 
same  general  nature  were  common  in  this  school,  and  by  means  of 
them  the  pupils  were  given  substantial  training  in  the  technique  of 
study. 

(b)  The  general  study  period. — We  have  already  mentioned 
the  fact  that  in  some  schools  a  single  period  a  day  is  set  aside  at 
which  all  the  pupils  engage  in  study.  This  may  be  developed 
into  an  effective  though  limited  means  of  supervised  study  by 
requiring  the  teachers  to  take  charge  of  their  home  rooms  dur- 
ing this  period,  and  to  assist  the  pupils  who  are  there  assembled. 
Under  this  plan,  pupils  are  allowed  to  leave  their  home  rooms  in 
order  to  get  assistance  from  teachers  of  the  special  subjects 
which  they  are  preparing  during  this  study  period. 

(c)  The  divided  period. — Under  this  device,  the  recitation 
period  is  cut  into  two  parts  of  approximately  equal  length,  one 
half  of  which  is  devoted  to  the  group  recitation,  and  the  other 
half  to  directed  study.  This  plan  has  been  effectively  worked 
out  by  Principal  William  Wiener  of  the  Newark,  N.  J.,  High 
School,  and  by  Professor  Merriam  of  the  University  High  School 
at  Columbus,  Mo.  It  has  been  adopted  in  a  considerable 
number  of  high  schools,  in  some  instances  being  accompanied 
by  a  slight  extension  of  the  class  period.  It  has  the  merits  of 
not  interfering  with  the  regular  school  program,  and  of  being 
flexible  and  adapted  to  the  varying  needs  of  the  class. 


SUPERVISED   STUDY  37 1 

• 

(d)  The  double  period. — This  plan  has  for  some  time  been 
employed  by  Principal  J.  Stanley  Brown  of  the  Joliet,  111.,  High 
School.  In  general  "the  first  period  of  the  two,  each  forty 
minutes  long,  is  spent  in  the  conduct  of  the  recitation;  the 
second  period  is  spent  in  directed  study,  with  whatever  as- 
sistance may  be  found  necessary,  according  to  the  need  de- 
veloped either  during  the  preceding  recitation  or  the  examina- 
tion of  the  lesson  for  the  following  day.  .  .  .  The  amount  of 
the  teacher's  work,  under  the  new  plan,  is  no  greater  than  under 
the  old  plan,  but  the  effectiveness  of  the  work  is  its  main  point 
of  defense."  * 

Purposes  for  which  the  Period  for  Supervised  Study  may 
be  used. — The  period  of  supervised  study  may  be  used  by  the 
teacher  for  several  purposes,  among  which  the  following  deserve 
particular  consideration: — 

(a)  The  period  may  be  devoted  in  part  or  as  a  whole  to  a  general 
assignment. — At  times  when  a  new  topic  of  considerable  im- 
portance is  being  taken  up,  the  teacher  can  spend  to  advantage 
an  entire  period  in  properly  preparing  the  class  for  the  study  of 
the  topic.  On  such  occasions  previous  work  relating  to  and 
leading  up  to  the  new  work  may  be  briefly  reviewed,  important 
points  may  be  emphasized,  difficulties  explained,  and  methods 
of  study  outlined.  While  such  an  extended  assignment  is  not 
often  necessary,  there  are  occasions  when  it  is  extremely  im- 
portant. 

(b)  It  may  be  used  as  a  means  of  summarizing  and  fixing  the 
lesson  that  has  just  been  taken  up  in  the  class. — It  would  perhaps 
be  well  to  devote  the  first  few  minutes  of  most  supervised  study 
periods  to  a  recall  and  organization  of  the  main  points  in  the 
recitation  just  finished.  This  is  an  excellent  device  for  making 
clear  and  fixing  in  the  mind  the  most  essential  topics  of  the 
recitation  period.    It  is  particularly  important  in  those  subjects 

1  Quoted  from  Dr.  Brown's  description,  School  and  Home  Education,  Feb., 


372  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

which  require  the  taking  of  notes  that  these  should  be  organized 
and  reduced  to  intelligible  and  permanent  form  as  soon  after 
the  class  period  as  possible. 

(c)  It  may  be  used  to  habituate  the  learner  in  the  technique  of 
study. — This  is  one  of  the  most  important  functions  of  the  super- 
vised study  period,  and  one  that  should  find  particular  emphasis 
in  the  case  of  first  year  high  school  pupils,  and  of  pupils  taking 
up  a  new  subject.  Few  learners  of  high  school  age  have  any 
adequate  idea  how  to  go  about  their  work.  Pupils  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  study  of  history,  for  example,  should  have  a 
definite  notion  of  how  to  read  and  comprehend  intelligently 
an  assignment.  The  class  should  be  drilled  in  selecting  the 
main  thoughts,  and  in  properly  relating  the  essential  facts. 
They  should  be  accustomed  to  making  outlines,  they  should  be 
taught  to  formulate  problems,  and  be  trained  in  exercising  his- 
torical judgments.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  importance 
of  using  in  a  foreign  language  supervised  study  periods  for  the 
purpose  of  training  the  pupils  in  intelligent  and  economical 
methods  of  translation.  In  mathematics,  too,  it  is  obvious  that 
one  of  the  most  important  phases  of  instruction  consists  in 
developing  methods  of  procedure.  In  geometry,  in  particular, 
much  time  is  wasted  by  the  average  pupil  when  he  learns  the 
propositions  as  they  are  worked  out  in  the  text-book.  If  study 
periods  were  properly  supervised,  the  pupil  could  develop  the 
proofs  under  the  guidance  of  the  teacher'  and  thus  get  some- 
thing from  the  study  of  geometry  that  resembles  training  in 
thinking.  History,  foreign  language,  and  mathematics,  however, 
are  not  the  only  subjects  of  instruction  that  require  emphasis 
on  the  methods  of  study.  There  is  no  subject  in  the  curriculum 
that  does  not  have  its  special  technique,  and  with  this  technique 
the  learner  should  be  made  familiar. . 

(d)  It  may  be  used  in  discovering  individual  needs  and  in 
giving  individual  aid. — No  teacher  can  do  his  best  work  unless 
he  understands  his  pupils  as  individuals.     By  observing  how 


SUPERVISED   STUDY  373 

the  learner  works,  the  teacher  can  definitely  find  out  just  what 
the  pupil  is  able  to  accomplish,  and  where  his  difficulties  lie. 
Thus  the  teacher  discovers  the  nature  and  direction  of  the  pupil's 
errors,  and  consequently  can  aid  him  at  those  points  at  which 
he  most  needs  help.  It  is  the  function  of  the  teacher  to  explain 
to  the  learner  those  things  that  are  obscure,  to  call  to  his  atten- 
tion those  facts,  principles,  and  methods  of  procedure  that  are 
not  comprehended,  and  finally  to  drill  him  on  those  things  in 
which  he  is  weak. 

Equally  important  for  the  teacher  in  directing  the  pupil's 
work  is  the  knowledge  of  the  things  in  which  the  pupil  has  at- 
tained the  desired  efficiency,  for  in  these  things  the  learner  may 
be  left  to  his  own  resources.  The  teacher  should  further  gain  a 
clear  idea  of  the  accomplishments  of  the  superior  pupil,  and 
will  on  the  basis  of  this  knowledge  assign  to  him  work  that  is  a 
real  test  of  his  ability.  Thus,  the  bright  pupil  will  be  freed  from 
the  treadmill  activity  of  going  over  those  things  that  he  already 
has  mastered,  and  will  be  given  an  opportunity  for  the  intellec- 
tual growth  which  under  the  present  system  of  class  instruction 
is  too  often  lacking. 

Fundamental  Principles  to  be  Emphasized  in  the  Tech- 
nique of  Learning. — It  has  already  been  said  that  one  of  the 
chief  functions  of  the  supervised  study  period  is  the  habituation 
of  the  pupil  in  correct  methods  of  learning.  This  is  so  important, 
that  a  somewhat  detailed  analysis  of  the  fundamental  principles 
involved  in  the  technique  of  learning  is  desirable  at  this  point. 

(a)  The  teacher  should  first  of  all  make  sure  that  the  physical 
conditions  of  the  study  room  are  such  that  the  pupil  can  do  his  best 
work. — It  is  hardly  necessary  to  emphasize  the  fact  again  that 
well-lighted,  properly  heated,  and  adequately  ventilated  school 
rooms  are  essential  for  high  grade  intellectual  effort.  There  are 
other  physical  conditions  that  must  be  kept  in  mind.  The 
pupil  should  be  comfortably  seated,  with  the  materials  that  he 
requires  for  his  work  well  arranged  and  immediately  available 


374  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

for  use  when  needed.  There  should  be  no  unnecessary  distrac- 
tion. Indeed,  everything  should  be  so  ordered,  that  the  learner 
may  give  the  maximum  amount  of  attention  to  the  essential 
elements  of  his  work.1 

(b)  The  teacher  should  furnish  the  pupil  with  an  incentive  for 
doing  his  work  rapidly  and  accurately. — The  pupil  must  be  made 
to  feel  that  the  study  period  is  an  opportunity  for  him.  The 
teacher  may  properly  urge  the  learner  to  do  as  much  as  possible 
at  this  time  in  order  that  the  pupil  may  be  free  to  do  other  things 
when  the  school  is  dismissed.  If  the  pupil  finds  that  it  is  to  his 
advantage  to  concentrate  his  attention  upon  his  school  work 
during  the  study  period,  he  will  in  all  probability  study  with 
zest  and  determination.  His  definite  reward  for  good  work  will 
be  his  freedom  from  school  tasks  at  the  completion  of  the  school 
day.    This  is  a  compelling  motive. 

The  pupil  will  discover  further  that  under  efficient  direction 
he  can  accomplish  much  more  in  a  given  time,  then  he  can  when 
he  studies  by  himself;  and  this  should  furnish  an  added  incen- 
tive for  serious  effort  during  the  study  hour.  However,  the 
teacher  must  remember  that  unless  the  learner  does  his  work 
faithfully  and  well,  he  may  find  but  little  advantage  in  working 
under  direction,  and  therefore  may  place  but  slight  importance 
on  the  value  of  the  study  period. 

An  additional  motive  for  study  may  be  found  if  the  teacher 
sets  before  the  pupil  a  certain  desired  standard  of  achieve- 
ment,— so  many  facts  to  be  mastered  in  history,  so  many  lines 
to  be  translated  in  a  foreign  language,  so  many  problems  to  be 
solved  in  algebra,  and  so  on,  during  the  prescribed  time  for 
work.  Likewise,  the  teacher  may  stimulate  the  zeal  of  the 
learner  to  increase  the  amount  accomplished  day  by  day,  until 
at  length  the  pupil  is  able  to  cover  the  entire  assignment  during 
the  study  period.  Such  incentives  as  these  are  among  the  most 
important.  There  are  others,  of  course,  that  may  be  used  from 
1  See  Chapter  VII.,  p.  130. 


SUPERVISED   STUDY  375 

time  to  time  with  various  groups  and  individuals,  and  the 
teacher  should  be  constantly  alert  to  the  necessity  of  motivat- 
ing in  every  legitimate  way  the  pupil's  habits  of  study.1 

(c)  The  teacher  must  insist  that  the  learner  begin  his  work 
promptly. — One  of  the  greatest  wastes  in  home  study  is  caused 
by  the  fact  that  many  pupils  have  no  idea  of  how  to  get  started. 
It  may  take  the  learner  ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty  minutes  actually 
to  begin  to  study.  Not  infrequently  he  consumes  a  third  of  his 
time  in  " warming  up."  The  teacher  should  use  every  device  to 
insure  at  the  opening  of  the  study  period  a  prompt  beginning. 
We  have  already  mentioned  the  fact  that  the  tools  and  materials 
for  work  should  be  at  hand.  There  should  be  no  necessity  for 
the  sharpening  of  pencils,  sorting  of  papers,  and  rummaging 
through  desks  for  books  and  supplies.  Again,  the  pupil  should 
be  habituated  in  beginning  at  once  those  more  mechanical 
parts  of  his  work  that  do  not  require  highly  adapted  attention, 
sustained  thought,  or  penetrating  analysis.  He  may  not  be 
able  immediately  to  concentrate  his  mind  on  the  details  of  a 
proof  in  geometry,  but  he  can  at  least  draw  the  figure,  and  see 
what  the  construction  signifies;  he  may  not  be  able  to  get  his 
mind  down  to  translating  his  language  assignment,  but  he  can 
start  his  lesson  by  learning  vocabularies  and  forms;  he  may  not 
at  the  outset  be  sufficiently  alert  to  begin  the  composition  of  his 
theme  in  narration,  but  he  can  commence  by  jotting  down  the 
events  that  are  to  form  the  basis  of  his  writing.2 

It  has  already  been  suggested  that  the  first  part  of  the  study 
period  may  be  devoted  to  a  review  and  summary  of  the  lesson 
just  finished  in  the  class.  This  review  is  something  that  the 
pupils  can  begin  on  at  once,  since  it  requires  no  new  orientation 
or  adaptation  of  attention,  and  no  original  thought.  Under  all 
circumstances,  the  teacher  must  see  to  it  that  the  pupils  make 
a  beginning,  even  if  it  involves  a  little  more  than  going  through 

1  See  Chapter  II.,  pp.  27,  31-35  and  Chapter  IV.,  pp.  72-80. 

2  See  Chapter  IV.,  pp.  62-64. 


376  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

certain  physical  motions,  and  that  they  do  not  spend  a  large 
part  of  their  time  in  the  agony  of  getting  started. 

(d)  The  teacher  must  require  the  pupil  to  maintain  sustained 
effort  until  the  close  of  the  study  period. — Not  only  do  many 
learners  waste  time  in  getting  started,  but  they  slow  up  in  their 
work,  as  the  time  to  end  their  task  approaches.  Studies  of  the 
curve  of  work  show,  however,  that  when  the  learner  is  aware  of 
the  approach  of  the  end  of  his  task,  and  when  he  desires  to  make 
a  good  record,  he  puts  forth  additional  effort  toward  the  end. 
If  the  pupil  has  a  motive  for  wishing  to  do  efficient  work,  he  will 
increase  his  activities  as  the  study  period  approaches  its  close. 
The  teacher  should  strive  to  provide  the  pupil  with  an  incentive 
for  finishing  at  top  speed,  and  should  impress  upon  him  the  de- 
sirability of  an  "end  spurt."  Like  a  prompt  beginning,  high 
grade  effort  at  the  end  becomes  a  habit  when  insisted  on  by  the 
teacher,  and  when  practiced  by  the  pupil. 

(e)  The  teacher  must  demand  that  the  pupil  concentrate  on  his 
work  under  all  circumstances. — While  concentration  always 
results  from  a  motive  for  work,  and  while  the  teacher  should  do 
all  in  his  power  to  motivate  the  study  period,  he  should  insist 
on  an  attentive  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  even  when  no 
adequate  motive  for  study  is  present.  By  merely  emphasizing 
an  attentive  attitude,  the  teacher  impresses  the  pupil  with 
the  idea  of  sustained  effort,  and  this  idea  may  ultimately 
develop  into  a  permanent  attitude  of  attention  ingrained  in  a 
habit. 

(f)  The  teacher  should  make  sure  that  the  pupil,  before  he  begins 
the  detailed  study  of  a  lesson,  knows  in  general  what  the  lesson  is 
about. — At  times  the  main  purpose  and  aim  of  the  lesson  is 
developed  in  the  assignment.  This  is  generally  the  most  de- 
sirable way  of  bringing  this  aim  to  the  attention  of  the  pupils. 
When,  however,  the  assignment  has  not  been  carefully  developed 
the  teacher  should  at  least  call  the  attention  of  the  class  to  the 
most  important  points  involved  in  the  new  lesson.    The  learner 


SUPERVISED   STUDY  377 

should  not  work  in  the  dark;  he  should  have  the  main  objects 
of  his  study  definitely  before  him. 

(g)  The  teacher  should  accustom  the  pupil  to  read  a  lesson  over 
as  a  whole,  before  he  concentrates  attention  on  various  elements  and 
details. — This  is  particularly  true,  as  we  have  already  said,  of 
such  a  subject  as  history  or  literature,  but  it  also  applies  in  a 
measure  to  every  subject  in  the  curriculum.1  There  should  be 
a  preliminary  orientation  of  the  work  to  be  done  even  in  study- 
ing a  lesson  in  algebra  or  geometry,  or  in  the  translation  of  a 
foreign  language.  It  is  often  desirable  to  show  the  pupil  how  to 
translate  the  assignment  as  a  whole  before  he  works  out  de- 
tailed difficulties.  Study  by  wholes  emphasizes  relationships 
and  general  aims,  while  study  by  parts  clears  up  special  dif- 
ficulties, but  often  obscures  the  significance  of  the  whole.  The 
rule  in  study  should  be  to  learn  by  wholes  at  the  start,  then 
to  concentrate  the  attention  on  individual  difficulties,  and 
finally  to  go  over  the  entire  work  again  in  its  totality,  thus  link- 
ing together  the  various  elements,  and  securing  a  comprehensive 
view  of  the  entire  subject  of  study. 

(h)  The  teacher  should  afford  the  pupil  an  opportunity  at  the 
close  of  the  study  period  to  review  the  most  essential  details,  and  fit 
them  together  in  a  significant  scheme. — This  follows  of  necessity 
from  what  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  paragraph.  A  final 
review  and  synthesis  is  necessary  for  any  adequate  understand- 
ing of  the  details  previously  studied.  The  most  economical 
time  for  this  review  is  at  the  completion  of  a  period  of  relatively 
detailed  study. 

(i)  During  the  study  period,  the  teacher  should  emphasize  the 
practice  of  recall  by  the  learner. — Learners  often  make  the  mis- 
take of  confining  their  entire  attention  to  the  book  before  them 
or  the  materials  immediately  at  hand.  They  bury  themselves 
to  such  an  extent  in  the  materials,  that  they  do  not  adequately 
comprehend  the  meaning  of  these  materials,  or  find  out  where 
1  See  Chapter  IV.,  p.  66. 


378  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHING 

their  difficulties  lie.  A  learner  may  read  over  an  assignment  in 
history  again  and  again  and  yet  have  no  clear  idea  of  what  it 
signifies.  If  he  would  stop  for  a  moment,  shut  the  book,  and 
try  to  recall  the  essential  facts  therein  contained,  he  would  im- 
press these  facts  more  surely  on  his  memory  and  would  more 
adequately  comprehend  their  relation.  Some  facts,  too,  he 
would  find  that  he  could  not  recall  at  all,  while  others  would 
be  hazy  and  uncertain.  Such  facts  he  would  then  study  more  in 
detail  and  with  greater  emphasis  until  he  had  mastered  them. 
Similarly  in  other  subjects  of  the  high  school  curriculum,  judi- 
cious recall  from  time  to  time  serves  as  an  important  aid  in  their 
mastery. 

(j)  The  teacher  should  assist  the  pupils  in  making  an  outline 
of  those  topics  of  study  that  contain  important  facts  and  principles 
with  subordinate  details. — Often  such  an  outline  is  best  worked 
out  when  the  learner  sets  down  in  each  paragraph  read  the 
main  topic  of  discussion,  then  seeks  to  find  the  subordinate  ideas 
that  are  related  to  this  topic  and  endeavors  to  arrange  them  in 
their  proper  sequence.  At  times  an  elaborate  system  of  out- 
lining may  be  necessary  with  main  topics,  sub-topics,  and  de- 
tailed items  under  these.  In  general,  however,  a  detailed  analysis 
is  not  necessary.  A  scheme  that  is  over-logical  and  minute 
may  defeat  its  own  purpose.  Sometimes  the  best  kind  of  out- 
line is  obtained  when  the  learner  underscores  the  main  topics 
in  his  text,  or  writes  out  a  marginal  analysis. 

Parker  1  in  his  discussion  of  the  outline  points  out  the  fact  that 
it  may  serve  the  purpose  of  getting  the  attention  immediately  adapted 
to  the  work  in  hand.  He  says,  "The  practice  of  making  an  outline 
on  paper  is  another  habit  of  going  through  the  motions  that  helps  in 
securing  attention  in  studying.  For  example,  in  beginning  this 
chapter  about  half-past  seven  one  evening  I  was  possessed  with  the 
idea  of  going  to  a  neighboring  minstrel  show.  I  couldn't  get  the 
thoughts  of  the  singing  and  eccentric  dancing  permanently  out  of  my 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  407. 


>ERVTSED   STUDY  379 

mind.  But  I  also  wanted  to  get  to  work  on  the  chapter.  So,  at  a 
favorable  moment,  when  the  thought  ' write  the  chapter*  was  domi- 
nant,  I  started  to  make  the  appropriate  motions  by  jotting  down  some 
headings  in  the  outline.  The  thought  'go  to  the  show'  kept  coming 
back,  but  the  outlining  motions  helped  to  inhibit  it.  Suddenly  it 
occurred  to  me  to  look  at  my  watch,  and  it  was  nine  o'clock,  too  late 
to  go,  and  I  had  made  considerable  progress  in  thinking  out  the  chap- 
ter. Similarly,  students  will  find  that  the  outlining  of  assigned  read- 
ings will  serve  as  an  important  mechanical  aid  to  attention." 

(k)  The  teacher  should  accustom  the  pupil  to  memorize  ideas 
rather  than  mere  facts;  however,  when  verbatim  memory  is  neces- 
sary, he  should  insist  that  it  be  exact  and  complete. — As  a  rule,  the 
high  school  pupil  is  woefully  lacking  in  ability  to  select  the  essen- 
tial facts  and  principles  contained  in  the  book  that  he  reads,  or 
the  materials  that  he  manipulates.  As  he  progresses  in  his 
school  course,  he  acquires  greater  power  in  this  respect,  but 
there  is  never  a  time  when  he  does  not  need  wise  and  careful 
guidance.  The  teacher  must  do  all  in  his  power  to  lead  the 
pupil  to  see  the  important  facts  that  lie  behind  words  and  ob- 
jects, and  give  these  their  meanings.  Rote  memory  at  this 
stage  of  learning  plays  but  a  small  role.  However,  there  are 
times  when  not  only  meanings  are  important,  but  the  words  in 
which  these  meanings  are  expressed.  When  such  rote  memory 
is  required,  the  teacher  should  impress  upon  the  learner  its 
necessity  and  value.  The  high  school  pupil  should  never  be 
above  learning  by  heart. 

(1)  The  teacher  should  impress  upon  the  learner  the  necessity 
of  looking  for  concrete  examples  and  applications  of  general  prin- 
ciples, and  of  interpreting  isolated  facts  in  terms  of  broader  mean- 
ings.— In  our  discussion  in  regard  to  reasoning,  we  emphasized 
the  fact  that  the  general  must  find  significance  through  its 
exemplification  in  particulars,  and  that  particular  instances 
must  acquire  a  meaning  in  relation  to  general  principles.  To 
make  the  pupils  understand  the  importance  of  this  relation- 


380  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIGH   SCHOOL  TEACHING 

ship  of  the  general  to  the  particular  and  the  particular  to  the 
general,  and  to  accustom  them  to  the  interpretation  of  the  ab- 
stract through  the  concrete,  and  the  opposite,  is  one  of  the  most 
important  habits  which  the  teacher  can  inculcate  through  super- 
vised study.1 

(m)  The  teacher  should  show  the  pupil  how  to  use  in  the  most 
economical  way  books  for  reference  and  collateral  reading. — Few 
pupils  at  the  beginning  of  their  high  school  course  have  any  idea 
how  to  run  down  a  topic  in  the  books  assigned  to  them  for  col- 
lateral reading,  or  how  effectively  to  use  books  of  reference. 
Since  this  is  an  important  part  of  their  school  work,  they  should 
learn  its  technique  as  soon  as  possible.  They  should  know  how 
to  get  information  from  encyclopedias,  dictionaries,  almanacs, 
gazetteers,  and  indexes.  Poole's  Index,  in  particular,  should  be 
familiar  to  them.  Pupils  who  are  doing  general  reading  should 
be  carefully  instructed  as  to  the  most  effective  method  of  taking 
notes  on  such  reading,  and  of  writing  these  notes  up  in  a  con- 
venient and  intelligible  form.2  The  older  pupils  may  be  intro- 
duced to  the  technique  of  taking  notes  on  cards  and  working 
them  up  into  a  personal  reference  system. 

The  Indirect  Results  of  Supervised  Study  Constitute  one 
of  its  Chief  Values. — While  the  main  aim  of  supervised  study  is 
to  aid  the  pupil  in  his  learning  and  habituate  him  in  effective 
methods  of  work,  there  are  certain  indirect  results  that  should 
be  kept  in  mind  in  estimating  the  value  of  this  proposed  innova- 
tion in  high  school  practice. 

In  the  first  place,  the  teacher  through  the  medium  of  the 
supervised  study  period  is  brought  into  contact  with  his  pupils 
as  individuals.  In  this  way  he  gets  vital  insights  in  regard  to 
their  attitudes,  habits,  interests,  knowledge,  and  skill.  He 
learns  to  know  his  class  as  he  never  could  know  it  through  the 
medium  of  the  recitation  alone.  Thus  he  acquires  the  ability  of 
dealing  with  individuals  as  individuals.     This  knowledge  of 

1  See  Chapter  XIII.,  p.  288.  *  See  Chapter  XL,  p.  228  f. 


SUPERVISED   STUDY  38 1 

the  pupil's  mind  is  important  not  only  in  its  application  during 
the  supervised  study  period,  but  also  during  the  recitation. 
Frequently  teachers  make  the  mistake  during  the  classroom 
exercise  of  treating  all  pupils  as  if  they  were  exactly  alike,  and 
of  expecting  the  same  thing  from  each  and  every  one.  This  is 
unfortunate  not  only  as  far  as  the  individual  pupils  are  con- 
cerned, but  also  unfortunate  from  the  standpoint  of  the  class 
as  a  whole.  The  best  recitation  is  that  in  which  each  and  every 
pupil  is  doing  those  things  that  he  can  best  do  in  terms  of  the 
needs  and  abilities  of  the  class  as  a  whole,  thus  attaining  the 
ideal  to  which  we  have  often  referred  in  previous  pages,  the  ideal 
of  the  cooperative  class. 

In  the  second  place,  when  supervised  study  becomes  an 
essential  part  of  high  school  instruction,  the  conduct  of  the 
recitation  will  be  entirely  changed,  much  to  its  advantage. 
We  have  frequently  discussed  the  time  wasted  in  testing  the 
pupil's  knowledge  and  in  giving  individual  drill  exercises  during 
the  class  period.  As  we  have  seen,  it  will  be  possible  for  the 
teacher  during  the  study  period  to  determine  very  accurately 
just  what  each  pupil  knows,  and  what  he  can  do.  It  will  also 
be  possible  to  drill  each  pupil  on  those  points  where  he  shows 
particular  weakness;  hence  it  will  be  no  longer  necessary  to 
spend  the  time  of  the  recitation  for  this  purpose.  Supervised 
study  means  the  elimination  of  lesson-hearing,  so  often  the  bane 
of  high  school  teaching  today.  When  the  necessity  for  testing 
the  knowledge  of  the  pupil  and  for  drilling  him  during  the  class 
exercises  no  longer  exists,  then  the  teacher  will  be  compelled  to 
use  the  recitation  to  realize  the  main  purpose  for  which  it  is 
intended,  namely, — for  the  stimulation  of  interests,  for  the  ac- 
quiring of.  insights  and  appreciation,  and  for  the  development 
of  reflective  thinking.  When  this  purpose  is  achieved,  the  mil- 
lennium in  high  school  teaching  will  be  at  hand. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  following  list  of  books  and  articles  is  not  intended  to  be 
a  complete  bibliography  of  the  literature  relating  to  the  topics 
discussed  in  the  foregoing  pages.  The  aim  of  the  writer  has  been 
to  select  some  of  the  most  important  discussions  concerning  the 
problems  of  the  high  school,  as  a  basis  for  the  student's  wider 
reading. 

Books  for  General  Reference 

The  following  books  should  be  kept  on  hand  for  constant 
reference: — 

Brown,  J.  F.    The  American  High  School  (1909). 
Judd,  C.  H.    Psychology  of  High  School  Subjects  (1915). 
Monroe,  P.    Principles  of  Secondary  Education  (1914). 
Parker,  S.  C.    Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools  (1915). 
The  School  Review,  University  of  Chicago  Press  (particularly  recent 
volumes). 

Bibliography  for  Chapter  I 

Bolton,  F.  E.    The  Secondary  School  System  of  Germany  (1900). 
Boynton,  F.  B.    A  six-year  high  school  course.    Ed.  Rev.,  Vol.  XX., 

pp.  515-19  (1900). 
Briggs,  T.  H.     Possibilities  of  the  junior  high  school.     Education, 

Vol.  XXXVII.,  pp.  279-89  (1917). 
Brown,  E.  E.    The  Making  of  our  Middle  Schools  (1903). 
Brown,  H.  A.    The  reorganization  of  secondary  education  in  New 

Hampshire.    Sch.  Rev.,  Vol.  XXII.,  pp.  145-56;  235-48  (1914). 
Brown,  J.  F.,  The  American  High  School.    Chapters  I.,  II.,  III.,  and 

XIII. 
Brown,  J.  S.    Present  development  of  secondary  schools,  etc.    Sch. 

Rev.,  Vol.  XIII.,  pp.  15-18  (1905). 

383 


384  SELECTED   BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Brown,  J.  S.  The  Joliet  Township  High  School.  Sch.  Rev.,  Vol.  IX., 
pp.  417-32  (iooi)- 

Cooley,  E.  G.    Vocational  Education  in  Europe  (191 2). 

Cubberley,  E.  P.  Does  the  present  trend  toward  vocational  educa- 
tion threaten  liberal  culture?  Sch.  Rev.,  Vol.  XIX.,  pp.  454-65 
(1911). 

Changing  Conceptions  of  Education  (1909). 

Davis,  C.  O.    High  School  Courses  of  Study  (19 14). 

Dewey,  J.  The  educational  situation.  Univ.  of  Chicago  Press,  1902, 
pp.  50-79. 

The  high  school  of  the  future.    Sch.  Rev.,  Vol.  XI.,  pp.  13; 

17-20  (1903). 

Eliot,  C.  W.     Changes  needed  in  American  secondary  education. 

General  Education  Board  (191 6). 
Farrington,  F.  E.    French  Secondary  Schools  (1910). 

Commercial  Education  in  Germany  (1914). 

Flexner,  A.    A  modern  school.    General  Education  Board  (1916). 
Gray,  A.  A.   The  junior  college  in  California.   Sch.  Rev.,  Vol.  XXIII., 

PP.  465-73  (1915). 
Hall,  G.  S.    The  high  school  as  the  people's  college  vs.  the  fitting 
school.    Red.  Sem.,  Vol.  IX.,  pp.  63-73  (1902). 

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Judd,  C.  H.    Psychology  of  High  School  Subjects.    Chapter  XVIII. 

Kennedy,  J.    The  Balavia  System  (1914). 

Kitson,  H.  D.    How  to  Use  Your  Mind  (191 6). 

Lunt,  F.  S.  Some  investigations  of  habits  of  study.  Journal  of  Edu- 
cational Psychology,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  344-48. 

McMurry,  F.  M.    How  to  Study  (1909). 


394  SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Minnick,  J.  H.  An  experiment  in  the  supervised  study  of  mathe- 
matics.   Sch.  Rev.,  Vol.  XXI.,  pp.  670-75  (1913)- 

Parker,  S.  C.  Methods  of  Teaching  in  High  Schools.  Chapters  XVI. 
and  XXI. 

Ruediger,  W.  C.  Teaching  pupils  to  study.  Education,  Vol.  XXIX., 
pp.  669-77. 

Sand  wick,  R.  L.    Row  to  Study  and  What  to  Study  (191 5). 

Watt,  H.  J.    The  Economy  and  Training  of  Memory  (1909). 

Whipple,  G.  M.    How  to  Study  Effectively  (1916). 

Wiener,  W.  Home-study  reform.  Sch.  Rev.,  Vol.  XX.,  pp.  526-31 
(1912). 


APPENDIX  A 

PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NOVICE  IN  TEACHING 

During  the  past  few  years,  the  writer  has  obtained  written 
statements  from  one  hundred  high  school  teachers  at  the  end  of 
their  first  year  of  service  as  to  their  most  important  problems. 
These  papers  have  been  written  in  response  to  the  question, — 
"What  are  the  essential  things  that  a  beginning  teacher  should 
keep  in  mind?  "  A  review  of  the  replies  to  this  query  shows  some 
interesting  general  tendencies  and  important  facts. 

In  the  first  place,  the  problem  that  stands  out  most  definitely 
in  practically  all  of  these  papers  is  that  of  discipline.  This  is 
shown  by  the  circumstance  that  in  ninety-two  of  the  papers 
this  problem  is  referred  to  directly,  while  in  a  large  majority  of 
the  papers,  it  is  given  an  important  place  in  the  discussion. 
Among  the  details  of  discipline  considered,  the  following  are 
most  emphasized  in  the  order  named.  Stated  as  maxims,  they 
would  read: — 

Start  right,  insisting  on  proper  habits  from  the  outset  (thirty- 
eight  papers). 

Be  fair  (thirty-one  papers). 

Meet  situations  as  they  arise,  with  vigor  and  determination 
(twenty-eight  papers). 

Insist  on  a  respectful  attitude;  never  tolerate  insolence 
(twenty- three  papers). 

Don't  be  sarcastic  (twenty- two  papers). 

Don't  act  rashly;  reflect  (twenty-one  papers). 

Talk  the  offense  over  with  the  pupil,  give  him  advice  and 
counsel  (eighteen  papers). 

Be  watchful  (seventeen  papers). 

395 


396  APPENDIX  A 

Don't  get  angry  (sixteen  papers). 

Be  firm  (fourteen  papers). 

Demand  obedience  (eleven  papers). 

Use  punishment  only  when  other  means  fail  (ten  papers). 

Other  factors  entering  into  discipline  are  mentioned  by  va- 
rious writers,  but  not  with  sufficient  unanimity  to  show  any 
general  tendency  of  opinion. 

Closely  connected  with  discipline,  is  the  personal  attitude 
of  the  teacher,  which  is  mentioned  by  seventy-seven  writers; 
the  details  emphasized  read  as  follows: — 

Seek  to  stimulate  interest  (fifty-five  papers). 

Be  enthusiastic  about  your  work  (fifty- two  papers). 

Be  sympathetic  (forty-four  papers). 

Have  an  objective  attitude;  don't  take  matters  too  personally 
(thirty-two  papers). 

Seek  personal  contact  with  your  pupils  (twenty-four  papers). 

Don't  be  a  "know  all"  (seventeen  papers). 

Strive  to  adapt  yourself  to  conditions  (fifteen  papers). 

Try  to  learn  from  your  pupils  (thirteen  papers). 

Don't  get  discouraged  (eleven  papers). 

Don't  be  too  critical  (ten  papers). 

No  other  quality  entering  into  the  attitude  of  the  teacher 
toward  his  work  is  mentioned  in  more  than  seven  papers. 

Sixty-nine  papers  refer  to  the  importance  of  method  in  teach- 
ing, and  in  particular  mention  most  frequently  the  following: 

Have  a  plan,  prepared  in  advance  of  the  recitation  (forty- 
three  papers). 

Set  a  reasonably  high  standard  of  achievement,  but  one  to 
which  the  average  pupil  can  attain  (thirty-four  papers). 

Make  pupils  think  (twenty-seven  papers). 

Economize  time  (twenty-four  papers). 

Supervise  pupils'  work  (twenty- two  papers). 

Consider  individual  needs  and  difficulties  (twenty  papers). 

Don't  merely  hear  lessons,  teach  something  (eighteen  papers). 


APPENDIX  A  397 

Don't  blindly  follow  the  methods  you  were  accustomed  to  in 
college  (seventeen  papers). 

Emphasize  the  assignment  (seventeen  papers). 

Know  the  subject  (sixteen  papers). 

Mechanize  routine  (fifteen  papers). 

Frame  questions  in  advance  with  great  care  (thirteen  papers). 

Don't  talk  too  much  (thirteen  papers). 

Check  up  results,  to  know  just  what  is  being  accomplished 
(eleven  papers). 

No  other  item  is  mentioned  in  more  than  nine  papers. 

Thirty-four  papers  call  attention  to  the  fact,  that  teachers  to 
succeed  should  be  progressive,  and  mention  as  essential  to 
such  progressiveness  continued  study  after  leaving  college,  the 
reading  of  educational  literature,  and  attendance  at  teachers' 
gatherings.  A  number  say  emphatically  that  the  teacher 
should  not  be  content  with  the  education  he  has  received.  He 
should  be  sensible  of  his  ignorance  in  regard  to  subject-matter, 
the  minds  of  his  pupils,  and  methods  of  instruction.  Several 
declare  that  no  teacher  should  be  complacent  in  regard  to  his 
achievements,  but  should  constantly  criticise  his  results,  and 
seek  to  improve  his  work. 

Of  the  other  matters  touched  on  in  these  papers  there  is  not 
sufficient  unanimity  to  warrant  their  consideration. 

By  way  of  summary  it  may  be  pointed  out,  that  these  be- 
ginning teachers  are  chiefly  conscious  of  four  main  problems, 
namely, — that  of  the  control  and  discipline  of  their  classes; 
that  of  their  personal  attitude  toward  the  class;  that  of  methods 
of  teaching;  and  that  of  their  own  inadequacy  and  need  of  self- 
improvement.  The  papers  that  discuss  discipline  clearly  indi- 
cate that  in  most  instances  the  writers  have  had  no  serious 
trouble  with  their  classes,  though  practically  all  have  found  that 
their  pupils  need  some  control  and  direction.  The  control  dis- 
cussed is  chiefly  by  indirect  methods.  Only  thirty-two  papers 
specifically  mention  punishment,  and  these  indicate  that  in  the 


398  APPENDIX  A 

opinion  of  the  writers  it  should  be  employed  only  when  other 
means  fail. 

Concerning  the  personal  qualities  that  a  teacher  should  pos- 
sess there  is  a  very  substantial  agreement  in  regard  to  the 
ability  to  arouse  interest.  The  possession  of  enthusiasm  for 
the  work  and  a  genuine  sympathy  with  the  pupil  are  considered 
indispensable  by  many  of  the  writers. 

A  very  large  percentage  of  those  who  discussed  problems  of 
instruction  insist  on  the  importance  of  a  plan,  prepared  in  ad- 
vance of  the  lesson.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  relatively  few  of  the  writers  have  felt  that  an  extended 
knowledge  of  subject-matter  is  a  prime  pre-requisite  for  success- 
ful teaching.  This  lack  of  emphasis  on  knowledge  of  subject- 
matter  is  all  the  more  noteworthy  when  we  remember  the  fact 
that  when  they  graduated  from  college  probably  the  majority 
of  these  teachers  had  the  point  of  view  that  such  a  knowledge 
was  the  prime  essential  in  teaching.  This  lack  of  emphasis 
on  the  importance  of  knowledge  of  subject-matter,  by  teachers 
who  have  had  seven  or  eight  months'  experience  in  the  high 
school,  would  seem  to  indicate  either  of  two  facts,  namely, — 
that  the  teachers  were  so  well  prepared  in  college  that  they 
find  themselves  masters  of  their  subjects,  or  that  a  high  standard 
of  scholarship  is  not  demanded  from  them,  either  by  principal 
or  pupils,  and  that  they  get  along  comfortably  with  a  modicum 
of  knowledge.  Since  many  of  these  hundred  teachers  were 
giving  instruction  in  some  subject  on  which  they  had  not 
specialized  in  college,  it  would  seem  that  the  latter  alternative 
is  important  in  this  explanation.  That  young  teachers  are  not 
made  more  often  to  realize  their  ignorance  is  probably  unfortu- 
nate. It  indicates  on  the  whole  a  relatively  low  grade  of  attain- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  pupils,  since  apparently  few  teachers 
had  difficulty  in  keeping  ahead  of  the  class,  and  it  also  indicates 
low  standards  of  excellence  in  scholarship  on  the  part  of  super- 
vising officers. 


APPENDIX  A  399 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  clear  that  in  the  minds  of  the  teachers 
reporting,  the  problem  of  method  has  acquired  large  significance 
during  their  first  year  of  teaching.  This  surely  indicates  the 
importance  of  this  aspect  of  instruction,  particularly  when  it  is 
remembered  that  the  majority  of  these  teachers  had  little  knowl- 
edge of,  and  small  interest  in,  methods  of  instruction  when  they 
began  to  teach.  The  fact  that  many  of  these  teachers  have  be- 
come definitely  conscious  of  their  deficiency  in  instructional 
skill  and  are  as  a  rule  oblivious  of  their  lack  of  knowledge  of 
subject-matter  needs  no  further  comment. 

Following  are  three  papers  taken  from  the  entire  group  of 
one  hundred  received.  In  the  main,  they  are  typical  papers, 
and  show  the  general  nature  of  much  that  was  discussed  by  the 
hundred  teachers  replying. 


Paper  I 

I  believe  that  the  teacher  who  can  practice  the  following  rules  will 
be  a  success: — 

i.  Look  at  pupils'  acts  objectively. 

2.  Be  patient;  however  poor  a  pupil's  work  is,  he  is  not  completely 
hopeless. 

3.  Begin  the  routine  work  definitely  at  the  beginning. 

4.  Have  the  lesson  well  in  hand;  there  will  be  less  conscious  exertion 
to  maintain  discipline. 

5.  Be  firm  and  definite  in  demands  at  all  times. 

6.  While  doing  any  necessary  clerical  work,  have  the  pupils  busy 
with  definite  work.. 

7.  Get  the  pupils  into  an  attitude  of  work  at  a  definite  time,  and 
have  them  remain  in  that  attitude  until  a  definite  time. 

8.  Know  your  pupils  as  individuals;  real  acquaintance  with  the 
pupil  makes  harmony  surer. 

9.  Keep  up  a  spirit  of  enthusiasm.    Be  an  optimist  I 

10.  Be  approachable,  but  also  dignified  and  firm, 
n.  Maintain  a  smooth  temper. 


400  APPENDIX  A 

Paper  II 

I  think  the  most  important  thing  for  the  beginning  teacher  to  know 
is  the  value  of  a  good  beginning.  The  teacher  does  well  to  make  clear 
to  the  pupils  at  the  very  outset  what  kind  of  work,  what  kind  of  con- 
duct is  expected  of  them  and  to  let  them  know  what  specific  offenses 
against  good  order  will  not  be  tolerated.  The  teacher  would  do  well 
to  know  also  that  pupils  will  probably  not  do  good  work,  and  give 
good  order,  simply  because  it  is  expected  of  them.  They  will  probably 
want  to  test  her  ability  to  hold  them  to  the  standards  set,  and  the 
teacher  should  be  ready  to  meet  all  such  tests. 

I  have  found  it  helpful  to  select  one  problem  at  a  time  for  attack, 
whether  in  presenting  class  work  or  in  trying  to  improve  discipline. 
Concentration  of  effort  on  one  thing  at  a  time  carries  one  farther 
than  divided  effort  in  many  fields. 

Perhaps  not  necessary  to  all,  but  surely  helpful  to  me  was  this  bit 
of  advice:  "Don't  be  easily  discouraged."  I  made  the  mistake  of 
expecting  big  results,  and  I  was  disappointed.  I  remembered  the 
failings  that  my  German  professor  told  me  all  secondary  school  pupils 
brought  to  college  with  them,  and  I  thought:  My  pupils  shall  not 
make  these  mistakes.  It  was  discouraging  to  find  them  making  them 
right  along.  On  several  occasions  when  results  seemed  very  meager, 
a  certain  homely  old  saying  prevented  me  from  feeling  extremely 
dissatisfied  with  myself — I  was  reminded  that:  "You  can't  make  a 
silk  purse  out  of  a  sow's  ear."  But  even  though  the  teacher  may 
not  be  able  to  produce  a  quantity  of  silk  purses,  she  ought  not  to  re- 
gard her  pupils,  either,  as  so  many  sows'  ears.  It  seems  to  me  that 
the  colleges  set  too  high  a  premium  on  intellectualism, — I  was  ex- 
pecting too  much,  at  any  rate — and  I  found  that  the  intellectual 
lights  in  a  large  city  high  school  are  not  many.  There  ought  tc  be 
some  other  means  of  judging  the  teacher's  work  beside  the  examina- 
tion papers.  She  ought  to  strive  for  character  building  as  much  as 
for  intellectual  attainment,  and  have  reason  to  be  pleased  with  moral 
results  if  she  gets  them. 

Finally,  I  should  say  that  the  beginning  teacher  ought  to  have  a 
great  deal  of  determination  and  will.  She  ought  to  start  out  with  a 
fairly  definite  mode  of  procedure  in  mind,  make  up  her  mind  what 


APPENDIX  A  401 

she  wants  accomplished,  and  then  stick  to  it.  Unless  the  will  of  the 
class  is  stronger  than  that  of  the  teacher,  or  there  is  inability  on  one 
side  or  the  other,  she  ought  to  be  successful. 


Paper  III 


The  only  question  of  really  serious  importance,  assuming  a  well- 
educated  and  sensible  teacher,  is  that  of  discipline.  This  must  be 
gained  before  regular  classwork  can  be  done  at  all  satisfactorily. 

At  first,  be  extremely  and  inflexibly  severe,  much  more  than  you 
wish  to,  or  intend  to  throughout  the  year.  Do  not  let  the  slightest 
infraction  of  a  very  rigid  idea  of  discipline  occur  without  first  a  word 
of  warning,  then  a  simple  punishment  (staying  after  school),  then 
sending  from  the  room.  Later,  when  you  are  certainly  and  obviously 
in  control,  it  is  best  to  overlook  minor  lapses  unless  (as  you  will  have 
found  out  by  then)  they  are  indicative  of  more  serious  trouble. 

Certain  things  must  be  nipped  in  the  bud:  whispering,  and  all 
willful  making  of  trouble.  For  these,  punishment  may  be  immediate, 
without  warning,  as  pupils  know  they  are  wrong,  and  previously  made 
rules  should  not  be  expected.  Indeed,  rules  of  all  kinds  should  be 
avoided  as  much  as  possible,  since  they  tend  to  form  a  cumbersome, 
inflexible  mode  of  control. 

Treat  pupils  from  the  start  as  if  you  really  expected  them  to  do 
right;  do  not  at  least  show  that  you  are  looking  for  trouble.  Use  the 
same  consideration  you  would  with  adults,  until  in  special  cases  you 
may  be  forced  to  abandon  it. 

When  cases  of  disciplinary  trouble  arise,  take  pupils  one  at  a  time, 
never  as  a  group,  or  even  by  twos  and  threes.  A  personal  talk,  in 
this  way,  will  usually  have  excellent  and  lasting  results,  and  saves 
an  often  unnecessary  punishment.  Where  this  method,  and  general 
appeals  to  reason,  the  right,  and  the  pupil's  better  nature  fail,  sum- 
mary punishments  must  be  used,  rapidly  increasing  in  severity  should 
light  ones  fail.  Enlistment  of  parental  aid  often  helps  a  great  deal  if 
cases  get  extreme,  but  diplomacy  as  well  as  strict  adherence  to  ab- 
solute truth  in  recounting  affairs  is  evidently  necessary. 

In  classes  so  hard  to  discipline  at  first  that  there  is  noticeable  dis- 
order, do  not  try  to  get  good  recitations;  conduct  the  class  in  such  a 


402  APPENDIX  A 

way  that  all  your  attention  is  on  behavior,  not  on  recitations.  Close 
watching,  and  sure  punishment  of  offenders,  will  stop  class-wide  mis- 
behavior. Reseating  pupils  so  that  groups  of  offenders  are  broken 
up,  and  the  worst  ones  either  put  in  the  front,  directly  in  your  sight, 
or  at  the  back,  where  their  eccentricities  will  not  be  seen  and  soon 
lose  their  "heroic"  character,  often  suffices. 

If  there  are  several  offences,  such  as  shuffling  of  feet,  tapping  of 
pencils,  and  whispering,  take  them  one  at  a  time,  insisting  on  that 
one's  being  stopped  until  a  proper  habit  is  formed.  Of  course  this 
does  not  mean  that  any  flagrant  disturbance  be  overlooked. 

When  any  trouble  arises,  make  your  decision  a  quick  one.  While 
you  wait,  the  class  may  be  getting  a  start  on  you.  It  may  be  best 
to  make  mistakes  rather  than  hesitate.  Experience  will  soon  show 
how  to  act  in  most  cases  that  arise. 

Do  not  consider  that  what  pupils  do  is  directed  against  you  per- 
sonally. It  is  merely  a  general  desire  for  a  good  time,  and  naturally 
takes  the  first  opportunity;  while  they  have  nothing  against  you  per- 
sonally, they  are  thoughtless,  and  if  they  see  they  can  bother  you, 
will  continue  to  do  it. 

Individual  class  work  is  a  sure,  if  temporary,  cure  for  disciplinary 
troubles,  and  usually  gets  pupils  into  right  habits  of  application. 

Be  friendly  with  pupils;  make  use  of  the  personal  touch  outside  of 
the  classroom.  Do  not  let  friendliness  degenerate  into  familiarity. 
At  all  times  the  teacher  should  have  some  reserve,  should  never  let 
the  class  feel  they  understand  his  motives,  thoughts,  or  feelings, 
should  have  some  "margin  of  incomprehensibility." 

Coolness  and  fairness  must  be  scrupulously  attained.  In  this 
respect,  it  should  be  noted  that  pupils  are  very  critical,  and  the 
teacher  should  take  great  pains  to  seem,  as  well  as  be,  impartial. 

A  detail  often  effective:  if  pupils  kept  after  school  want  to  be  ex- 
cused, double  the  time  the  next  day.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  investi- 
gate excuses,  and  this  plan  automatically  punishes  offenders. 

Finally,  do  not  give  up.  Lapses  may  keep  occurring  for  weeks  or 
months;  they  should  be  uniformly  and  inevitably  attended  to.  On 
the  other  hand,  do  not  be  over-confident.  The  class  may  seem  to 
be — and  actually  be — under  control,  and  a  week  of  "letting  down" 
before  their  habits  are  surely  formed  will  break  the  habits  up  entirely. 


APPENDIX  A  403 

Now,  as  to  the  lessons  themselves.  In  the  beginning  of  a  new 
subject,  go  very  slowly  and  surely  for  a  while.  Review  and  drill  until 
every  pupil  is  entirely  familiar  with  the  foundations.  This  is  abso- 
lutely necessary,  even  if  for  a  time  it  seems  that  no  progress  is  being 
made;  that  the  class  is  standing  still. 

Talk  slowly  and  distinctly.  If  nervous,  consciously  go  even  more 
slowly;  pupils  do  not  know  your  feelings  if  you  act  composed  and  take 
your  time.  Not  only  the  subject-matter,  but  discipline,  too,  seems  to 
suffer  if  all  the  pupils  do  not  hear  you  well. 

Plan  concretely  for  all  the  time  in  a  period;  for  every  single  minute 
if,  after  one  or  two  experiences,  you  find  yourself  at  a  loss  what  to 
do.  Write  out  the  program  just  as  you  intend  to  follow  it  and  have 
it  handy — say  in  a  book — where  you  can  refer  to  it  readily  and  with- 
out embarrassment.  It  is  usually  safe  to  depart  from  a  minute  pro- 
gram, if  the  recitation  seems  to  tend  that  way. 

Never  let  a  pupil  feel  for  a  minute  that  he  is  out  of  the  class.  This 
can  be  avoided  in  several  ways.  The  best,  of  course,  is  to  make  the 
subject  interesting.  Another,  get  the  class  on  the  qui  vive  by  calling 
unexpectedly,  or  stopping  at  odd  moments  to  give  a  brief  quiz;  if 
they  see  this  is  a  custom,  they'll  not  dare  not  to  pay  attention.  A 
quiz  at  the  end  of  a  period  frequently  makes  the  poorer  pupils  try  to 
get  all  they  can  during  a  recitation,  and  by  proper  choice  of  questions 
will  appeal  to  all.  Call  on  the  inattentive  ones;  this  enlists,  as  a  rule, 
the  important  factor,  social  pressure,  since  a  failure  caused  by  "  day- 
dreaming "  usually  causes  a  smile  over  the  class.  Individual  class 
work  makes  all  pupils  keep  busy. 

This  plan, — individual  work  in  class,  pupils  working  separately  at 
their  seats,  doing  another  problem  as  soon  as  one  is  finished,  with 
the  teacher  going  about  the  room  helping,  noting  weaknesses,  getting 
ranks  if  desired, — is  a  very  good  one.  It  is  economical,  since  all  work 
all  the  time,  the  best  and  the  poorest;  it  is  helpfully  adjusted,  since 
the  teacher  gives  each  the  aid  he  needs;  it  relieves  disciplinary  strain, 
since  the  teacher's  attention  is  released  so  that  he  can  if  necessary 
give  exclusive  attention  to  it.  Pupils  seem  to  be  interested  in  this 
method. 

Use  a  great  deal  of  illustrative  material;  if  you  must  use  the  de- 
ductive method  (as  in  geometry)  be  sure  to  follow  the  general  theorem 


404  APPENDIX  A 

by  concrete  problems,  especially  numerical  ones,  even  if  as  simple  as: 
"A  square  has  one  side  4  ft.  long.  How  long  is  the  next  side?"  Do 
not  stop  with  merely  giving  the  illustration,  as  it  is  a  tendency  to  do. 
Make  the  pupils  give  some  of  their  own,  or  re-explain  yours.  The  best 
of  illustrations  go  in  one  ear  and  out  the  other  (pursued  at  no  great 
interval  by  the  general  fact  intended  to  be  illustrated)  unless  the 
pupil  feels  he  is  held  to  some  minimum  which  he  will  be  considered 
accountable  for. 

After  all,  most  of  your  advances  in  discipline  and  in  teaching 
proper  will  come  through  experience.  Advice  at  best  is  general,  or 
if  specific,  suited  only  to  some  special  teacher  and  some  special  situa- 
tions. Concrete  and  detailed  knowledge  of  what  to  do  in  every  situa- 
tion is  an  ideal,  and  can  be  gained  only  by  meeting  and  coping  with 
such  situations;  other  methods  are  unsatisfactory  although  helpful 
to  a  degree.  The  feeling,  "I've  been  here  before,"  gives  one  poise, 
sureness,  and  swiftness  in  the  worst  of  situations,  that  can  be  gained 
in  no  other  way. 


APPENDIX  B 

AN  OUTLINE  FOR   STUDENT  GUIDANCE   IN   OBSERVATION   IN   THE 
GRADES  AND  IN   THE  HIGH   SCHOOL 


(Read  and  carefully  consider  the  entire  outline  before  making 
any  observations.  In  reporting  your  observations  give  your 
chief  attention  to  the  topics  indicated  below.  However,  do  not 
confine  yourself  exclusively  to  these  topics  or  the  order  in  which 
they  are  presented.  Whatever  seems  to  you  to  be  important 
in  your  observations  in  any  class  should  be  commented  on.) 

A.  The  Grades 

Observation.  I.  External  conditions  of  the  classroom. — Effective 
school  work  cannot  be  done  unless  the  external  conditions  are  satis- 
factory. The  teacher  should  consider  carefully  these  conditions  and 
do  all  that  he  can  to  make  them  optimal.  Observe  particularly  the 
following  points : — 

(a)  Lighting. — Describe  the  number  and  location  of  the  windows, 
notice  how  far  they  are  from  the  ceiling,  observe  whether  they  are 
shut  off  from  the  light  by  surrounding  walls  or  buildings.  Do  you 
think  that  the  lighting  is  adequate  for  all  of  the  pupils? 

(b)  Heating  and  ventilation. — As  you  enter  the  room  observe  the 
temperature  and  the  air.  Is  the  room  too  warm  or  too  cool  for  com- 
fort; is  the  air  fresh?    How  is  the  room  ventilated? 

(c)  Seating  of  the  pupils. — Do  the  seats  and  desks  seem  to  be 
adapted  to  the  pupils?  Do  the  pupils  sit  in  awkward  and  uncomfort- 
able positions?  Is  this  due  to  improper  seating  or  to  improper  habits 
on  the  part  of  the  pupils?  Does  the  teacher  attempt  to  correct  im- 
proper postures? 

(d)  The  mental  atmosphere  of  the  room. — Is  the  room  quiet  and 
orderly?     If  any  of  the  pupils  are  restless  and  inattentive  notice 

[405 


406  APPENDIX  B 

what  effect  this  seems  to  have.  Observe  particularly  the  attitude 
of  the  teacher.  Is  she  calm  and  at  ease,  or  does  she  seem  to  irritate 
and  annoy  the  pupils?  Notice  particularly  the  quality  of  her  voice; 
her  posture  while  standing  or  sitting;  her  methods  of  enforcing  dis- 
cipline. Also  comment  on  her  general  disposition.  Is  it  sympathetic 
and  patient?  Observe  further  whether  she  is  vital  and  energetic,  or 
whether  she  seems  worn  down  and  depressed  by  the  day's  work. 

(e)  Summary. — Is  your  general  impression  that  this  classroom  is 
well  suited  for  excellent  work?  Give  reasons  for  your  answer  to  this 
question. 

Observation.  II.  Waste  in  the  classroom.  The  ideal  recitation  is 
secured  only  when  all  of  the  class  is  working  all  of  the  time  under  con- 
ditions that  secure  the  greatest  efficiency.  There  are  many  sources 
of  waste,  among  which  the  following  are  particularly  to  be  observed : — 

(a)  Loss  of  time  in  beginning  the  recitation. — Does  the  recitation 
start  promptly? — Note  causes  of  delay  and  suggest  how  they  may 
be  avoided. 

(b)  Confusion  and  delay  in  passing  materials  (paper,  pencils,  books, 
corrected  exercises,  etc.). — Does  the  teacher  have  a  plan  in  distribut- 
ing materials?    Describe  it.    Can  you  suggest  any  better  methods? 

(c)  Careless  use  of  the  blackboard. — Can  the  part  of  the  blackboard 
used  be  seen  by  practically  all  of  the  class?  Is  the  front  board  used 
in  preference  to  the  boards  at  the  sides  and  back  of  the  room?  Are 
many  pupils  sent  to  the  board  at  once?  Do  they  have  ample  space 
to  work  in?  Do  they  write  clearly  and  neatly?  Do  they  pass  promptly 
and  do  they  begin  their  work  at  once?  Is  the  work  of  the  individual 
pupil  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  class  as  a  whole?  Is  a  large 
amount  of  incorrect  work  written  on  the  board?  Is  this  carefully 
and  emphatically  corrected? 

(d)  Lack  of  a  definite  plan  for  conducting  the  lesson. — Does  the 
teacher  seem  to  have  a  clear  aim  or  set  of  aims  in  teaching  the  lesson? 
State  these  aims  if  you  can  discover  them.  Does  she  keep  to  these 
aims,  or  does  she  permit  irrelevant  questions,  wandering  discussion, 
and  the  emphasis  of  unessential  details?  Does  she  bring  the  lesson 
to  a  proper  conclusion,  or  does  she  break  it  off  in  a  hurried  and  un- 
satisfactory manner?  Are  the  main  points  clearly  emphasized  and 
summarized? 


APPENDIX  B  407 


Observation.  III.  Waste  in  the  classroom  (continued). 

(e)  Unclear  statements. — Does  the  teacher  make  vague  statements? 
(These  may  be  due  either  to  lack  of  thought  and  skill  in  framing  these 
statements  or  to  the  use  of  words  not  clearly  understood  by  the 
pupils.)  Does  the  teacher  permit  such  statements  to  be  passed  by 
when  made  by  the  pupils? 

(f)  Statements  too  general  and  abstract. — Does  the  teacher  make 
general  and  abstract  statements  without  concrete  and  definite  illus- 
trations? Does  she  permit  pupils  to  make  such  statements  without 
requiring  them  to  give  examples? 

(g)  Undue  consumption  of  time  by  the  teacher  or  by  a  few  pupils. — 
Is  the  class  kept  mentally  alert  by  all  being  called  upon  frequently 
to  participate,  or  does  the  teacher  consume  a  large  amount  of  the 
time  in  talking?  Does  she  permit  pupils  to  make  long  recitations? 
Does  she  spend  time  in  asking  pupils  "pumping  questions,"  in  trying 
to  drag  information  out  from  them?  Does  she  drill  pupils  singly, 
or  the  class  as  a  whole? 

(h)  Unskilful  questioning. — Does  the  teacher  tend  to  repeat  her 
questions,  or  does  she  ask  the  question  once,  definitely,  clearly,  and 
so  that  it  can  easily  be  heard  by  all  members  of  the  class?  If  she 
repeats  her  questions,  why  does  she  do  it?  Does  the  teacher  repeat 
the  answers  of  the  pupils?    Why  does  she  do  this? 

(i)  Summary  of  the  two  preceding  periods  of  observation. — Assuming 
that  the  maximally  efficient  class  is  one  that  is  mentally  active  dur- 
ing the  entire  recitation,  each  individual  member  being  occupied  on 
something  that  is  distinctly  worth  while  for  the  entire  period,  estimate 
the  efficiency  of  the  class  or  classes  you  have  observed  during  the 
last  two  periods.  Enumerate  the  greatest  sources  of  waste  as  you 
have  observed  them. 

Observation.  IV.  Methods  of  instruction. — The  lowest  grade  of 
teaching  is  "hearing  a  lesson."  In  fact  this  is  not  teaching  in  any  real 
sense  of  the  term.  The  hearing  of  a  lesson  is  justified  to  a  limited 
extent  in  that  it  gives  the  teacher  knowledge  of  what  the  pupil  knows 
and  where  his  mistakes  lie.  It  is  also  justified  to  the  extent  that 
it  serves  as  an  incentive  for  the  pupil  to  study.  Few  lessons  should 
be  devoted  merely  or  largely  to  tests  for  knowledge.  The  next  higher 
grade  of  teaching  consists  in  intelligent  and  systematic  drill.    The 


408  APPENDIX  B 

highest  grade  of  teaching  consists  in  developing  the  lesson  through 
demonstration,  illustration,  explanation,  and  question  and  answer. 
The  chief  aim  of  the  teacher  should  be  to  give  new  meanings  and  to 
establish  facts,  principles,  and  methods  of  procedure  during  the 
recitation  period.  In  connection  with  methods  of  instruction  the 
following  should  be  particularly  observed: — 

(a)  Testing  for  knowledge. — What  proportion  of  the  lesson  is  de- 
voted to  finding  out  what  the  pupil  knows?  What  use  does  the 
teacher  make  of  this  test  for  knowledge?  Does  she  use  it  chiefly  for 
marking  the  pupil,  or  does  she  make  it  a  basis  for  developing  the 
lesson,  bringing  new  knowledge  to  that  which  the  pupil  already  pos- 
sesses? Does  she  further  use  the  test  intelligently  to  correct  the 
pupils'  errors? 

(b)  Drilling  for  efficiency. — What  proportion  of  the  total  recitation 
is  devoted  to  drill?  How  is  the  drill  conducted?  Are  pupils  drilled 
one  at  a  time,  or  is  the  drill  directed  toward  the  class  as  a  whole? 
Note  the  kind  of  questions  asked  in  a  drill  exercise.  Are  they  "rapid 
fire  questions,"  or  are  they  deliberate  and  given  with  undue  time  for 
reply?  Do  the  pupils  seem  interested  in  the  drill,  or  is  it  monoto- 
nous and  apparently  disagreeable? 

(c)  Developing  the  lesson. — How  much  time  is  spent  by  the  teacher 
in  adding  to  the  pupils'  knowledge  of  facts  and  principles?  Describe 
the  methods  by  which  the  teacher  develops  the  lesson.  Does  she  ask 
questions  to  lead  the  pupils  to  think?  Does  she  give  concrete  ex- 
amples from  which  general  facts  may  be  arrived  at?  Does  she  tell 
the  pupils  much  outright,  or  does  she  attempt  to  aid  them  in  finding 
out  facts  through  their  own  initiative?  Does  she  make  use  of  the 
blackboard  in  developing  the  new  lesson? 

(d)  Preparing  for  the  lesson  of  tomorrow. — In  assigning  a  lesson 
does  the  teacher  attempt  to  clear  up  difficulties,  and  aid  the  pupils 
in  their  study  of  this  lesson?  How  does  she  do  this?  Is  there  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  to  show  the  pupils  how  to  study? 

(e)  Summary. — In  the  lesson  that  you  have  observed,  how  much 
actual  teaching  do  you  think  the  teacher  has  done?  Does  the  teacher 
seem  more  interested  in  hearing  lessons,  or  in  helping  the  pupils  to 
learn  something  new? 

Observation.  V.  Motivating  the  class  work. — Most  work  that  we  do 


APPENDIX  B  409 

until  it  becomes  a  matter  of  habit  is  not  done  for  itself,  but  for  some 
purpose  that  lies  outside  of  the  work  as  such.  This  is  a  motive.  The 
problem  of  securing  an  adequate  motive  for  school  activities  is  one 
of  the  most  pressing  and  difficult  of  all  questions  that  confront  the 
teacher.  In  so  far  as  school  activities  appeal  to  an  inborn  tendency 
of  the  child,  no  motive  outside  of  these  tendencies  is  necessary.  How- 
ever, most  school  activities  demand  an  external  motive  for  their 
performance.  Among  the  most  important  motives  are  the  desire  for 
approval,  and  the  fear  of  disapproval.  High  marks  are  one  form  of 
approval,  while  disapproval  may  take  the  form  of  reproof  or  definite 
punishment.  The  spirit  of  rivalry  and  the  desire  to  beat  one's  previous 
record  often  furnish  motives  for  work  that  in  itself  may  be  distaste- 
ful. Work  is  given  a  value  when  its  relation  to  life  is  clearly  shown, 
and  particularly  when  it  appeals  to  some  vocational  interest.  Work 
is  often  done  also  in  the  spirit  of  cooperation  with  the  class  and  with 
the  teacher.  A  task  is  more  cheerfully  performed  and  better  per- 
formed when  it  is  something  to  be  given  to  the  class  as  a  whole 
to  advance  the  knowledge  of  the  class  and  to  aid  its  various  members 
in  learning.  Observe  the  class  with  the  purpose  of  discovering  if  any 
of  these  motives  are  operative. 

(a)  Appealing  to  instinctive  tendencies. — Does  any  of  the  work  of 
the  class  appeal  to  such  fundamental  instincts  as  pleasure  in  manipu- 
lating objects,  curiosity,  interest  in  movement,  particularly  self- 
activity,  the  desire  to  make  collections,  the  play-spirit,  or  joy  in  in- 
tellectual activity? 

(b)  Motives  based  on  reward  and  punishment. — Does  the  teacher 
emphasize  marking  in  the  recitation,  or  use  other  means  to  indicate 
her  approval?  Does  she  reprove  for  bad  work,  or  tell  pupils  to  re- 
main after  school  when  they  fail  in  their  lessons? 

(c)  Motives  based  on  rivalry. — Does  the  teacher  urge  pupils  to  do 
better  so  that  they  may  equal  or  surpass  somebody  else?  Does  she 
encourage  them  to  beat  their  own  previous  achievements?  In  any 
other  way  does  she  appeal  to  the  spirit  of  rivalry? 

(d)  Appealing  to  community  and  vocational  interests. — Does  the 
teacher  attempt  to  relate  the  school  work  in  any  way  to  that  of  the 
everyday  life  of  the  child,  or  does  the  material  presented  seem  to 
be  remote  and  apart  from  the  vital  interests  of  the  child?    Does 


4IO  APPENDIX  B 

the  teacher  in  any  way  appeal  to  the  vocational  interests  of  the 
child? 

(e)  Stimulating  the  cooperative  interests  of  the  pupil. — Does  the 
teacher  in  any  way  attempt  to  make  the  class  self-helpful?  Are 
pupils  given  particular  work  to  do  and  to  report  on  to  the  class?  Is 
a  simple  seminary  method  ever  used?  In  reciting  does  the  pupil 
merely  recite  for  the  teacher,  or  is  there  an  attempt  to  recite  to  the 
class  as  a  whole?  Are  the  pupils  encouraged  to  speak  so  that  all  of 
the  class  can  hear,  or  is  the  "pupil-teacher"  attitude  the  one  assumed? 
Do  pupils  attempt  to  pay  attention  to  those  who  are  reciting,  and 
are  they  encouraged  to  offer  criticisms  and  suggestions? 

(f)  Summary. — On  the  whole  does  the  class  impress  you  as  alive 
and  interested  in  the  work  of  the  period,  or  does  it  seem  to  be  merely 
"going  through  the  motions?  " 

B.  The  High  School 

In  each  of  the  five  observations  to  be  conducted  in  the  high 
school  note  and  report  on  the  following  items: — 

i.  What  are  the  specific  aims  of  the  lesson? 

2.  What  methods  are  employed  to  realize  these  aims? 

3.  What  results  seem  to  be  attained? 

4.  If  there  are  any  matters  of  discipline  state  specifically  their 
nature,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  are  met. 

Observation.  I.  In  addition  to  considering  these  specific  points 
in  each  observation  the  first  observation  is  to  consider  particularly 
the  question  of  Attention  and  Interest,  observing  the  following 
topics: — 

(a)  Characterize  in  general  the  attention  of  the  class. 

(b)  What  are  the  causes  for  lapses  in  attention? 

(c)  What  methods  does  the  teacher  use  to  secure  attention? 

(d)  What  interests  are  appealed  to  that  aid  in  securing  and  hold- 
ing attention? 

(e)  Give  instances  of  passive,  active,  and  secondary  passive  at- 
tention. 

Observation.  II.  The  second  observation  is  to  consider  the  ques- 
tion of  Thinking  under  the  following  heads: — 


APPENDIX  B  411 


(a)  How  large  a  part  of  the  lesson  is  directed  to  developing  thought, 
as  distinguished  from  testing  the  memory  and  training  through  drill? 

(b)  Give  examples  of  inductive  and  deductive  processes  of  thinking. 

(c)  Give  examples  of  instruction  cast  in  the  form  of  a  problem. 
Observation.  III.  The  third  observation  period  is  to  give  particular 

consideration  to  the  devices  for  Illustration.  An  illustration  is  any- 
thing that  presents  in  a  simple  and  concrete  manner  a  fact  or  prin- 
ciple that  is  general  and  abstract.  It  is  the  interpretation  of  the  less 
well  known  in  terms  of  the  more  familiar  and  better  known.  Illustra- 
tions may  be  objects,  pictures  of  such  objects,  models,  drawings, 
diagrams,  maps,  and  graphic  representations  of  various  sorts.  Illus- 
trations may  likewise  consist  in  specific  examples  of  general  principles. 
Further  the  teacher  may  lead  the  pupil  to  revive  in  imagination 
concrete  experiences  that  give  vitality  to  the  oral  or  written  words 
which  may  in  themselves  be  meaningless  symbols.  In  this  period  of 
observation  observe  particularly  the  following  points: — 

(a)  Does  the  teacher  use  in  making  the  lesson  clear  any  objects 
or  representations  of  such  objects? 

(b)  Does  the  teacher  use  the  blackboard  to  illustrate  important 
and  difficult  points? 

(c)  Does  the  teacher  in  stating  a  general  principle  always  give 
concrete  illustrations  of  this  principle,  and  does  he  demand  concrete 
illustration  by  the  pupil? 

(d)  Does  the  teacher  attempt  to  appeal  to  the  imagination  of  the 
pupil  and  lead  him  to  see  in  his  mind's  eye  that  which  is  not  physically 
present? 

Observation.  IV.  The  fourth  observation  period  is  to  emphasize 
Individual  Aid  in  teaching.  No  teacher  should  teach  a  class  en- 
tirely as  a  group.  He  must  in  a  way  consider  the  individual  capaci- 
ties and  needs  of  his  pupils.  As  a  rule  individual  needs  should  not 
be  given  chief  attention  during  the  recitation  period.  They  should 
be  treated  outside  of  the  regular  class  hour.  In  this  connection  ob- 
serve the  following  topics: — 

(a)  Does  the  teacher  correct  the  individual  errors  of  the  pupils,  or 
does  he  call  upon  the  class  to  correct  such  errors? 

(b)  Does  he  attempt  to  drill  a  single  pupil  upon  something  that 
is  of  little  value  or  interest  to  the  class  as  a  whole? 


412  APPENDIX  B 

(c)  Observe  particularly  in  the  work  done  by  the  pupil  at  the 
board  whether  the  corrections  made  are  for  the  sole  benefit  of  the 
pupil  making  them,  or  whether  these  corrections  are  so  made  as  to 
be  of  benefit  to  the  class  as  a  whole. 

(d)  Does  the  teacher  seem  to  have  any  method  (through  examining 
written  work,  or  otherwise)  of  discovering  the  nature  of  pupils'  errors? 
Does  he  attempt  to  follow  up  these  errors  and  compel  the  pupils  to 
correct  them? 

Observation.  V.  The  fifth  observation  period  is  to  consider  par- 
ticularly the  Personality  of  the  Teacher.  The  personality  of  the 
teacher  is  the  chief  factor  in  a  good  school  or  class.  This  personality 
is  in  part  due  to  original  nature,  but  is  in  no  small  measure  a  matter  of 
experience  and  training.    The  following  points  should  be  observed: — 

(a)  Does  the  teacher  seem  to  be  in  control  of  the  class  at  all  times; 
does  he  see  everything  that  is  going  on;  does  he  instantly  check  any 
tendency  toward  disorder;  does  he  seem  confident  and  master  of  the 
situation? 

(b)  Does  he  stand  or  sit  when  hearing  the  recitation;  does  he 
move  about  from  time  to  time? 

(c)  Does  he  pay  attention  to  the  whole  class,  or  merely  to  the 
pupil  that  is  reciting? 

(d)  Has  he  a  good  voice,  and  does  he  speak  clearly,  with  vivacity, 
but  with  due  deliberation? 

(e)  Does  he  seem  at  ease,  or  is  he  nervous;  does  he  have  any  ob- 
jectionable automatisms  or  habits? 

(f)  Is  he  sympathetic  and  genial,  or  is  he  formal  and  remote  in 
his  manner? 

(g)  Does  he  ever  give  evidence  of  irritation;  does  he  use  sarcasm? 
(h)  Does  he  seem  to  be  a  thorough  master  of  his  subject? 

(i)  Is  he  apparently  thoroughly  interested  in  his  teaching  or  does 
he  do  it  as  if  it  were  a  task? 

(j)  Does  he  merely  hear  lessons,  or  does  he  possess  instructional 
skill;  does  he  really  teach  something? 

(k)  Does  he  give  a  human  touch  to  his  subject;  does  he  make  it  seem 
as  if  it  were  related  to  the  everyday  life  of  the  pupil,  or  does  it  seem 
something  remote,  unreal,  and  formal? 

In  making  your  observations  in  the  high  school,  observe  three 


APPENDIX  B  413 

different  subjects.  Further  observe  one  subject  at  least  twice.  In 
observing  the  work  in  foreign  language  and  mathematics  observe 
particularly  the  use  of  the  blackboard.  Observe  whether  the  language 
teaching  is  largely  synthetic  and  grammatical,  or  analytical  and 
direct.  The  latter  method  uses  grammar  only  as  a  means  to  an  end, 
emphasizes  conversational  and  "natural "  methods.  In  your  observa- 
tions in  history  notice  particularly  whether  there  is  an  attempt  to 
relate  the  past  to  the  present,  and  to  find  in  the  events  of  yesterday 
points  of  contact  with  the  happenings  of  today.  In  your  observa- 
tions in  English  distinguish  carefully  between  the  practical  and  the 
cultural  aspects  of  the  lesson.  In  your  observation  of  science  notice 
particularly  whether  the  habit  of  thinking  inductively  is  cultivated, 
or  whether  a  large  part  of  the  work  is  merely  testing  for  knowledge 
and  emphasis  of  facts  learned  from  books  or  lectures.  In  your  ob- 
servations in  geometry  notice  whether  the  instruction  is  largely 
formal  or  whether  it  stimulates  the  pupil  to  original  thinking. 


APPENDIX  C 

Suggested  Form  of  Lesson  Plans 

The  following  lesson  plans  have  been  selected  from  a  large 
number  submitted  by  student-teachers  as  typical  of  plans  of 
the  better  type.  They  are  not  examples  of  perfect  plans,  but  of 
plans  that  may  be  expected  from  the  most  intelligent  and  in- 
dustrious students  at  the  end  of  their  senior  year  in  college,  or 
during  their  first  graduate  year. 

History 

A.  Materials  covered  in  the  lesson. 

(a)  Review. — We  shall  rapidly  go  over  the  causes  and  the 
incidents  of  the  Boer  War.    (8  min.). 

(b)  Advance. — This  will  consider  three  of  the  most  important 
facts  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VII. , — the  Imperial  Federation, 
England's  alliance  with  France  and  Russia,  and  the  increase 
of  England's  naval  strength.    (12  min.). 

(c)  Assignment. — This  will  deal  with  the  significance  of  the 
facts  brought  out  in  the  review  and  advance  in  relation  to  cur- 
rent events.    (25  min.). 

B.  Outline  of  the  lesson  in  detail. 

(a)  The  aim. — The  aim  of  the  lesson  is  to  connect  the  events 
in  recent  English  history  with  the  Great  War;  particu- 
larly to  show  the  effect  of  Edward's  colonial  policy  and  his 
alliance  with  France  and  Russia,  on  the  struggle.  The  lesson 
will  culminate  in  the  formulation  of  certain  problems  that  the 
class  are  to  consider  and  discuss  at  a  later  meeting. 

414 


APPENDIX  C  415 

(b)  Method. — I  shall  first  ask  certain  review  questions  among 
which  will  be  the  following: 

Give  me  a  brief  statement  of  the  most  important  events  of 
the  Boer  War. 

Do  you  think  that  Gladstone  was  right  when  he  said  that  the 
conquest  of  the  Transvaal  would  not  be  worth  its  cost? 

Some  Englishmen  believed  that  the  war  was  chiefly  for  the 
benefit  of  South  African  mine  owners.  What  does  this  suggest 
to  you  in  regard  to  our  present  Mexican  problem? 

Explain  in  what  ways  the  Boers  have  been  a  source  of  strength 
or  weakness  to  England  in  recent  years. 

To  conquer  the  Boers  England  sent  into  the  field  an  army  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men.  This  was  a  voluntary 
army.  Lord  Roberts  urged  universal  service  for  Englishmen. 
What  is  your  opinion  in  regard  to  such  service? 

In  the  foregoing  review,  I  intend  to  emphasize  the  fact  that 
the  conquest  of  the  Transvaal  has  had  an  important  bearing  on 
the  course  of  events  in  South  Africa  since  the  beginning  of  the 
Great  War,  and  to  show  that  the  Union  of  South  Africa  has 
been  to  the  advantage  of  England.  I  shall  also  refer  to  the  fact 
that  England  was  not  prepared  for  the  Boer  War,  and  that  she 
did  not  for  a  long  time  comprehend  the  task  that  she  had  on  her 
hands  in  conquering  the  Boers.  However,  when  she  made  up 
her  mind  to  go  through  with  the  struggle,  she  never  wavered 
until  she  had  accomplished  her  purpose. 

In  considering  the  events  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VII.,  I  shall 
aim  to  make  it  clear  that  the  alliance  between  England,  France, 
and  Russia  was  possible  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  for  a 
long  period  England  had  regarded  France  as  her  traditional 
enemy,  and  that  Russia  and  England  had  been  on  unfriendly 
terms  for  nearly  two  generations.  I  shall  then  ask, — "  Was  this 
alliance  prompted  primarily  by  feelings  of  friendship  between 
the  countries  concerned,  or  was  its  chief  aim  political?"  "If 
it  was  largely  the   result   of  public   policy,   what  was   that 


416  APPENDIX  C 

policy?"  "In  what  sense  has  it  proved  an  entangling  alli- 
ance? " 

I  shall  next  consider  Edward's  successful  efforts  toward  Im- 
perial Unity  and  ask  the  following  questions, — "What  has 
been  England's  policy  toward  her  colonial  possessions  that  has 
made  this  unity  possible?"  "What  has  been  the  value  to  Eng- 
land of  this  unity?"  "If  England  had  shown  the  same  en- 
lightened policy  toward  America  in  the  Colonial  Period,  that 
she  has  since  shown  toward  her  other  possessions,  would  the 
course  of  history  have  been  changed,  and  how?" 

In  considering  England's  policy  in  regard  to  her  navy,  I  shall 
ask, — "In  1910,  the  English  Parliament  put  in  its  budget  the 
sum  of  $90,000,000  for  war  ships.  This  money  might  have 
been  used  to  great  advantage  for  the  development  of  industry, 
for  education,  etc.  Was  it  wisely  expended?"  "Why  has 
England  considered  a  navy  so  essential  to  her  welfare?"  "Has 
she  used  this  navy  chiefly  as  a  means  of  extending  her  power, 
or  as  a  means  of  protection?  " 

The  remaining  part  of  the  lesson  will  be  taken  up  with  the 
assignment,  the  chief  purpose  of  which  will  be  to  formulate 
certain  thought  questions  to  be  considered  in  the  preparation 
of  the  next  recitation. 

Among  the  problems  that  I  shall  develop  with  the  class  are 
the  following: — 

In  dealing  with  the  Boers  England  showed  certain  elements 
of  weakness  and  of  strength.    What  were  these? 

How  have  the  same  characteristics  of  the  English  tempera- 
ment shown  themselves  during  the  last  two  years? 

In  what  respects  are  England's  traits  of  character  at  all  due 
to  her  democratic  form  of  government? 

We  also  have  a  democratic  government;  are  there  any  reasons 
why  our  experience  may  be  like  that  of  England? 

England  attempted  to  safeguard  her  foreign  relations  by 
creating  a  "balance  of  power"  in  her  favor  through  the  forma- 


APPENDIX  C  417 

tion  of  the  Triple  Entente.  What  did  this  balance  of  power  cul- 
minate in? 

England  desired  peace.  Can  peace  be  secured  by  balancing 
groups  of  nations  against  one  another? 

Is  there  any  better  way  of  securing  peace  and  establishing  it 
on  a  permanent  basis? 

England  believed  in  naval  preparedness,  but  not  in  military 
preparedness.  How  might  the  advice  of  Lord  Roberts  have 
affected  the  Great  War? 

Has  America  the  same  reasons  for  having  a  large  navy  that 
England  has?  Has  America  the  same  reasons  for  having  a  large 
army? 

Questions  asked. — The  large  proportion  of  the  questions  asked 
during  the  course  of  the  lesson  will  be  of  the  thought  type. 
Fact  questions  will- be  introduced  merely  as  a  preparation  for 
the  thought  questions. 

Illustrations  Used. — I  shall  use  a  map  of  South  Africa  in  con- 
sidering the  Boer  War.  A  map  of  Europe,  showing  the  British 
Isles,  will  be  used  in  discussing  England's  need  of  a  navy.  Other 
illustrations  will  be  of  the  nature  of  comparisons,  and  I  shall 
use  a  number  of  these. 

(c)  Results. — The  lesson  went  well.  The  class  gave  excellent 
attention  to  most  of  the  topics  discussed,  chiefly  because  they 
saw  the  significance  and  bearing  of  these  topics  on  matters  in 
which  they  are  all  greatly  interested.  I  made  the  mistake  in 
several  instances  of  discussing  points  not  directly  connected 
with  my  main  topics,  and  consequently  the  lesson  lacked  some- 
what in  unity.  I  had  some  difficulty  in  keeping  members  of 
the  class  from  talking  when  they  were  not  addressed,  and  for 
this  reason  there  was  confusion  at  times.  I  asked  too  many 
questions  for  these  to  be  adequately  discussed  in  the  course 
of  the  recitation.  I  asked  too  many  "yes  and  no"  ques- 
tions. 


418  appendix  c 

Physics 

A.  Materials  covered  in  the  lesson. 

(a)  Review. — I  shall  go  over  with  the  class  the  various  facts 
previously  discussed  in  regard  to  sound,  namely, — that  it  ori- 
ginates in  a  vibrating  body,  that  it  is  conducted  through  the 
atmosphere,  and  that  it  is  in  the  form  of  longitudinal  wave 
motion.  What  really  travels  through  the  air  is  a  series  of 
compressions,  alternating  with  a  series  of  rarefactions.  (10 
min.). 

(b)  Advance. — Here  we  shall  discuss  the  speed  of  sound,  the 
graphic  representation  of  sound,  and  the  nature  of  the  mano- 
metric  flame.    (17  min.). 

(c)  Assignment. — I  wish  here  to  bring  out  the  difference  be- 
tween noise  and  tone,  and  two  of  the  three  features  by  which 
tones  are  distinguished  from  one  another,  namely, — loudness 
and  pitch.  I  shall  reserve  the  discussion  of  quality  (fundamen- 
tals and  overtones)  for  another  lesson.    (18  min.). 

B.  Outline  of  the  lesson  in  detail. 

(a)  The  aim. — The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  again  to  emphasize 
the  physical  facts  relating  to  the  cause  of  sound  and  its  trans- 
mission; to  draw  a  distinction  between  sound  as  a  sensation  and 
as  a  physical  phenomenon;  to  frame  with  the  class  a  definition 
of  noise  and  tone,  and  of  loudness  and  pitch.  I  shall  treat  these 
distinctions  from  two  standpoints, — sensation  and  physical 
energy.  These  latter  distinctions  will  lead  up  to  subsequent 
laboratory  experiments. 

(b)  Method. — I  shall  first  ask  a  number  of  fact  questions  con- 
cerning matters  brought  out  in  previous  lessons.  Typical  ques- 
tions to  be  asked  are  as  follows: — 

If  you  clamp  in  a  vise  a  blade  of  a  hack  saw,  what  must  you 
then  do  to  cause  it  to  give  forth  a  sound? 

As  long  as  the  sound  continues  what  will  you  notice  about  the 
hack  saw? 


APPENDIX  C  419 

Sound  a  tuning  fork  and  notice  that  the  edges  look  hazy.  Why 
is  this? 

What  must  we  do  to  the  strings  of  a  mandolin  in  order  that 
the  instrument  shall  give  forth  a  sound? 

What  do  the  above  facts  show  in  regard  to  the  cause  of  sound? 

The  human  voice  is  a  good  example  of  sound.  Is  the  sound 
in  this  instance  due  to  vibrations?  (This  last  question  calls  for 
discussion  and  reflection;  it  has  not  been  touched  on  in  previous 
lessons.) 

How  does  sound  travel  from  the  source  (a  vibrating  body) 
to  the  ear  that  hears  it? 

What  proofs  have  you  that  it  travels  through  the  air? 

Does  it  take  time  to  travel? 

What  proofs  have  you  that  it  takes  time,  and  can  you  meas- 
ure the  time  that  it  actually  takes? 

The  above  questions  will  emphasize  the  facts  that  sound  is 
always  caused  by  a  vibrating  body,  and  that  it  travels  through 
the  air.  I  shall  next  attempt  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  sound 
travels  in  the  form  of  waves.  To  do  this,  I  shall  use  Konig's 
device,  the  manometric  flame.  (The  nature  of  the  sound  wave 
has  been  discussed  in  previous  lessons,  but  has  not  as  yet  been 
demonstrated,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  apparatus  was 
out  of  order  at  the  time  the  topic  was  first  considered.) 

I  shall  next  draw  on  the  board  a  graphic  representation  of 
sound  waves  and  explain  the  construction  of  the  graph. 

In  the  assignment  for  tomorrow,  I  shall  attempt  first  to  lead 
the  class  to  distinguish  between  two  kinds  of  sound,  noise  and 
tone,  and  to  point  out  their  essential  differences  first  as  sensa- 
tions, and  then  as  physical  phenomena.  To  do  this  I  shall  use 
the  various  resources  of  the  laboratory  to  produce  sounds  (both 
tones  and  noises).  I  shall  strike  tuning  forks,  actuate  strings, 
pound  on  the  desk  with  a  mallet,  etc.  By  this  means  I  hope  to 
get  a  statement  from  the  class  that  some  of  the  sounds  are 
musical  and  others  are  not.    If  I  succeed  in  doing  this,  I  shall 


420  APPENDIX  C 

then  ask  such  questions  (requiring  reflection  and  thought)  as 
the  following: — 

Give  me  a  list  of  words  (adjectives)  that  can  be  applied  to 
tones;  to  noises. 

Are  tones  always  pleasant?    Are  noises  always  unpleasant? 

Are  there  some  sounds  that  are  both  tones  and  noises? 

I  shall  next  attempt  to  make  clear  to  the  class  that  the  dis- 
cussion of  tone  and  noise  which  we  have  just  had,  considers 
sound  as  a  sensation,  not  as  a  form  of  physical  energy.  I  shall 
then  ask  what  is  the  physical  distinction  between  tone  and  noise, 
and  shall  again  use  the  manometric  flame  with  the  purpose  of 
showing  that  tone  is  due  to  a  periodic  motion,  and  that  noise 
is  due  to  a  non-periodic  motion. 

By  striking  the  tuning  fork  with  gentle  and  hard  blows,  I 
shall  attempt  to  lead  the  class  to  distinguish  between  loud  and 
soft  tones.  By  striking  various  forks  I  shall  attempt  to  develop 
the  notion  of  pitch.  I  shall  clamp  a  clock  spring  in  a  vise, 
hoping  to  bring  out  the  fact  that  as  it  is  shortened  it  vibrates 
more  rapidly  and  gives  out  a  higher  note.  I  shall  also  attempt 
to  show  that  a  vibrating  string  sounds  loud  when  its  amplitude 
is  great,  and  soft  when  its  amplitude  is  slight.  Finally,  I  hope 
to  lead  the  class  to  the  conclusion  that  loudness  is  due  to  ampli- 
tude of  vibration,  while  pitch  depends  on  rapidity  of  vibration 
(frequency).  In  the  next  lesson  (a  laboratory  exercise),  I  shall 
attempt  further  to  prove  these  conclusions  through  individual 
observation  and  experimentation. 

Questions  asked. — At  the  beginning  of  the  hour  the  questions 
will  be  principally  of  the  knowledge  and  the  drill  types;  the  ma- 
jority of  the  questions  will,  however,  be  of  the  thought  type.  I 
shall  aim  to  demonstrate  and  develop  rather  than  to  tell. 

Illustrations  used. — I  shall  use  numerous  demonstrations  as 
outlined  above.  In  addition,  in  discussing  the  rate  at  which 
sound  travels,  I  shall  tell  the  class  about  the  explosion  at  Kra- 
katoa  in  August,  1883,  the  effects  of  which  were  recorded  at 


APPENDIX  C  421 

various  points  on  the  earth's  surface.  I  shall  illustrate  compres- 
sions and  rarefactions  of  the  air  by  Mach's  photograph  of  the 
stationary  waves  which  accompany  the  flight  of  a  Mauser  rifle 
ball.  I  shall  also  refer  to  the  effect  of  the  explosion  of  ammu- 
nition in  New  York  harbor  in  19 16.  Glass  windows  were  broken 
as  far  uptown  as  Times  Square. 

(c)  Results. — I  attempted  to  cover  too  much  in  the  hour. 
Some  of  the  things  I  tried  to  do  were  too  difficult  for  the  class  to 
comprehend,  particularly  the  graphic  representation  of  sound 
waves.  This  part  of  the  lesson  was  a  distinct  failure.  Some 
of  my  demonstrations  did  not  come  out  well,  particularly  those 
connected  with  the  manometric  flame.  Few  of  the  class  could 
see  just  what  took  place.  I  shall  use  this  demonstration  again 
as  a  laboratory  exercise.  The  interest  was  on  the  whole  well 
sustained.  Some  of  the  thought  questions  worked  out  satisfac- 
torily. However,  I  was  forced  to  tell  a  good  deal  that  I  had 
hoped  to  develop.  On  the  whole  I  should  say  that  the  lesson 
was  fairly  successful.    Much  must  be  gone  over  again  in  review. 

Geometry 

A.  Materials  covered  in  the  lesson. 

(a)  Review. — We  will  here  consider  the  facts  already  dis- 
cussed in  regard  to  the  properties  of  triangles,  particularly  those 
theorems  in  the  text  in  regard  to  equal  triangles.    (5  min.). 

(b)  Advance. — Here  we  will  take  up  the  proof  of  the  following 
theorems: 

I.  The  sum  of  the  angles  of  any  triangle  is  equal  to  two  right 
angles. 

II.  Two  right  triangles  are  equal  when  the  hypothenuse  and 
leg  of  one  are  equal  respectively  to  the  hypothenuse  and  leg  of 
the  other.    (20  min.). 

(c)  Assignment. — In  this  part  of  the  lesson  the  following 
theorems  will  be  developed  and  stated: 

I.  If  two  triangles  have  two  sides  of  one  equal  respectively  to 


422  APPENDIX  C 

two  sides  of  the  other,  but  the  included  angle  of  the  first  greater 
than  the  included  angle  of  the  second,  the  third  side  of  the  first 
is  greater  than  the  third  side  of  the  second. 
II.  The  converse  of  this  proposition.    (20  min.). 

B.  Outline  of  the  lesson  in  detail. 

(a)  The  aim. — The  aim  of  this  lesson  is,  first,  to  recall  to  the 
minds  of  the  class  the  fact  that  triangles  are  equal  when  certain 
conditions  are  realized  in  regard  to  their  sides  and  the  angles, 
and  second,  to  work  out  with  the  class  the  statement  of  two 
theorems  in  regard  to  triangles  that  have  two  sides  equal,  but 
the  third  side  unequal,  and  also  the  included  angles  unequal. 
The  first  part  of  the  lesson  is  largely  in  preparation  for  the  second 
part,  and  it  includes  both  the  review  of  the  work  done  during 
the  last  few  days  and  a  consideration  of  the  work  prepared  for 
the  lesson  of  today. 

(b)  Method. — The  lesson  will  begin  with  a  written  test  of  the 
propositions  assigned  for  today's  advance  work.  During  the 
test,  I  shall  inspect  the  work  of  individual  pupils,  and  discover 
by  this  means  how  well  they  understand  the  theorems  which 
they  are  attempting  to  prove.  At  the  conclusion  of  this  test, 
I  shall  ask  the  following  questions: 

How  many  right  angles  can  a  triangle  have? 

How  many  obtuse  angles? 

What  is  the  sum  of  the  acute  angles  of  a  right  triangle  equal 
to? 

What  can  you  say  about  a  right  triangle  whose  two  legs 
are  equal  respectively  to  the  two  legs  of  another  right  tri- 
angle? 

In  obtaining  the  answers  for  these  questions,  I  shall  ask  for 
the  reasons  involved.  I  shall  then  proceed  to  discuss  the  proper- 
ties of  equal  triangles,  not  right  triangles,  as  these  have  been 
considered  in  previous  lessons.  First,  I  shall  draw  on  the  board 
two  triangles  thus: 


APPENDIX  C  423 


I  plan  to  make  subsequent  questions  and  answers  substan- 
tially as  follows: — 

Teacher.  How  do  these  two  triangles  look  to  you? 

Pupil.  They  look  equal. 

T.  If  they  are  equal,  what  do  you  know  is  true  about  them? 

At  this  point  I  hope  to  obtain  the  following  answers: — 

P  1.  They  have  three  sides  respectively  equal. 
P  2.  They  have  a  side  and  two  adjacent  angles  equal  each  to  each. 
P  3.  They  have  two  sides  and  the  included  angle  of  one  equal  re- 
spectively to  the  two  sides  and  included  angle  of  the  other. 

I  shall  then  continue  somewhat  as  follows: — 

T.  Name  two  sides  of  one  triangle,  and  two  sides  of  the  other. 

P.  AB  and  AC  of  the  first,  and  xy  and  xz  of  the  second. 

T.  Name  the  included  angles. 

P.  The  angle  at  A,  and  the  angle  at  x. 

T.  Let  us  measure  these  sides  and  these  angles.  (Teacher  measures 
with  rule  and  protractor.)  Yes,  I  find  side  AB  is  just  the  same  length 
as  side  xy,  and  that  AC  and  xz  are  also  equal.  The  angles  at  A  and 
at  x  are  both  forty-two  degrees.  Now  according  to  a  previous  prop- 
osition, what  can  we  say  about  these  two  triangles? 

P.  They  are  equal. 

T.  Then  if  I  should  take  one  triangle  and  put  it  on  the  other,  what 
would  happen? 

P.  One  triangle  would  exactly  cover  the  other.  They  would  be 
the  same. 

T.  Now  from  the  point  A,  I  am  going  to  draw  a  dotted  line  AC 
just  as  long  as  AC,  and  so  that  the  line  AC  falls  outside  of  the  tri- 


424  APPENDIX  C 

angle  ABC.  .  .  .  Then  I  am  going  to  draw  another  dotted  line  join- 
ing the  points  B  and  C.  Now  look  at  the  triangle  ABC',  and  com- 
pare it  with  triangle  xyz.    What  can  you  say? 

P.  ABC  is  not  equal  to  xyz. 

T.  How  about  the  sides  AB  and  xy? 

P.  They  are  equal. 

T.  And  the  sides  AC  and  xz? 

P.  They  are  equal  also. 

T.  But  how  about  the  angle  BAC  and  the  angle  yxz? 

P.  The  angle  BAC  is  greater  than  the  angle  yxz. 

T  (measuring) :  Yes,  it  is  sixty-three  degrees.  Now  how  about  the 
side  BC  as  compared  with  the  side  yz? 

P.  BC  is  greater  than  yz. 

T  (measuring) :  Yes,  it  is  quite  a  little  longer.  Now  can  you  state 
a  proposition  concerning  the  relation  of  the  triangle  ABC  and  the 
triangle  xyz?   What  do  you  know  about  these  two  triangles? 

P.  Two  sides  are  equal. 

T.  Anything  else? 

P.  Yes,  the  included  angles  are  not  equal. 

T.  Anything  else?  Anything  about  the  equality  of  the  two  tri- 
angles? 

P.  The  triangles  are  not  equal. 

T.  Can  you  state  this  fact  in  the  form  of  a  proposition? 

P  (after  further  discussion):  When  two  triangles  have  two  sides 
equal,  but  the  included  angle  of  one  greater  than  the  included  angle 
of  the  other,  then  the  two  triangles  are  not  equal. 

T.  Anything  else?    How  about  the  sides  BC  and  yz? 

P.  They  are  not  equal. 

T.  Anything  else  that  you  can  say? 

P.  BC  is  greater  than  yz. 

T.  That  is  right.  Anything  else?  Where  are  the  sides  in  relation 
to  the  angles  BAC  and  yxz? 

P.  They  are  opposite  these  angles. 

T.  And  which  side  is  greater? 

P.  SideBC. 

T.  And  which  angle  is  greater? 

P.  Angle  BAC. 


APPENDIX  C  425 

T.  Now  let  us  have  the  entire  proposition.  We  have  already  said 
that  when  two  triangles  have  two  sides  of  the  one  equal  respectively 
to  the  two  sides  of  the  other,  but  the  included  angles  unequal,  then 
the  two  triangles  are  unequal.  Now  what  can  we  say  about  the  rela- 
tion of  the  sides  opposite  the  included  angles? 

P.  The  sides  are  unequal. 

T.  And  the  greater  side  .  .  .  ? 

P.  Lies  opposite  the  greater  angle. 

T.  There  you  have  the  entire  proposition.  You  have  seen  that 
it  is  true,  but  for  tomorrow's  lesson,  I  wish  you  to  prove  in  logical 
form  that  it  is  true. 

By  further  questioning  I  hope  to  develop  the  converse  of  this 
proposition,  namely — If  two  triangles  have  two  sides  of  one 
equal  respectively  to  two  sides  of  the  other,  but  the  third  side 
of  the  first  greater  than  the  third  side  of  the  second,  the  included 
angle  of  the  first  is  greater  than  the  included  angle  of  the  second. 
In  conclusion,  I  shall  suggest  steps  by  which  these  two  theorems 
may  be  demonstrated,  but  I  shall  leave  the  details  to  be  worked 
out  by  the  pupils. 

Illustrations  used. — Besides  illustrating  the  work  by  the 
method  of  drawing  figures  on  the  board,  I  shall  attempt  to 
make  these  theorems  more  definite  and  concrete  by  calling  the 
attention  of  the  class  to  the  fact  that  Providence,  Boston,  and 
Worcester  are  practically  each  forty-four  miles  apart;  that 
Westerly  is  also  the  same  distance  from  Providence,  but  about 
twice  as  far  from  Boston.  I  shall  ask  what  facts  follow  from 
this  in  terms  of  our  day's  lesson. 

(c)  Results. — I  carried  out  the  lesson  practically  as  planned. 
The  written  test  was  completed  by  all  but  four  of  the  class  in 
the  time  allowed  for  it  (18  min.).  I  found  some  difficulty  in 
developing  a  statement  of  the  two  theorems  for  tomorrow,  but 
I  finally  obtained  the  desired  answers,  though  I  am  afraid  that 
over  half  of  the  class  did  not  follow  me  completely.  There  was 
a  good  deal  of  interest  in  the  illustration  based  on  the  situation 


426  APPENDIX  C 

of  Providence,  Boston,  Worcester  and  Westerly,  and  several 
thoughtful  questions  were  asked. 

English 

A.  Materials  covered  in  the  lesson. 

(a)  Review. — I  shall  take  up  portions  of  Washington  Irving's 
three  sketches  relating  to  Christmas  (Christmas  Eve,  Christmas 
Day,  and  the  Christmas  Dinner),  emphasizing  details  not  suf- 
ficiently brought  out  in  previous  lessons.    (10  min.). 

(b)  Advance. — I  shall  read  with  the  class  the  sketch,  The 
Widow  and  Her  Son.    (15  min.). 

(c)  Assignment. — This  will  be  the  sketch,  A  Royal  Poet.  It 
will  occupy  about  half  of  the  entire  period.    (20  min.). 

B.  Outline  of  the  lesson  in  detail. 

(a)  The  aim. — My  main  aim  in  this  lesson  is  to  impress  on 
the  class  certain  elements  in  literary  appreciation.  In  par- 
ticular I  shall  attempt  to  bring  out  the  "feeling  tone"  of  the 
sketches  taken  up  in  the  review  and  the  advance.  I  hope  to 
make  the  pupils  realize  to  some  extent  the  sparkle,  the  mirth, 
the  humor,  the  sense  of  bodily  comfort  that  make  the  "atmos- 
phere" of  the  Christmas  sketches,  and  on  the  other  hand  the 
gloom,  the  poverty,  the  misfortune,  and  the  hopeless  misery 
that  cast  their  pall  over  the  story  of  the  Widow  and  her  Son. 
In  the  assignment,  too,  the  aim  will  be  in  part  to  make  the  class 
feel  with  the  author.  Here  I  shall  attempt  to  direct  the  thoughts 
of  the  pupils  to  those  elements  that  show  Irving's  art  in  writing 
his  moods  into  the  description.  I  shall  further  attempt  to  aid 
the  class  in  understanding  Irving's  conception  of  the  poetic 
imagination,  and  impress  upon  them  his  portrayal  of  the  refined 
and  gracious  character  of  James  I. 

(b)  Method. — In  the  review,  I  shall  read  to  the  class  certain 
selected  passages  from  the  Christmas  stories,  for  example, — 
"It  was  a  brilliant  moonlit  night,"  etc.    "The  postboy  rang 


APPENDIX  C  427 

a  large  porter's  bell,  which  resounded  through  the  still  frosty 
air,"  etc.,  (to  impress  the  "Christmas  feeling ");  descriptions 
of  Master  Simon,  the  dance,  the  orchestra  in  the  church  (for 
the  jollity  and  humor) ;  the  description  of  the  Christmas  dinner 
(to  convey  the  sense  of  well-being  and  creature-comfort).  In 
this  way  I  hope  to  get  the  necessary  background  for  the  con- 
trasting mood  of  the  sketch  taken  up  in  the  advance. 

I  shall  read  as  much  as  possible  of  this  with  the  class,  and  I 
shall  ask  such  questions  as  the  following: 

Name  some  of  the  words  that  Irving  uses  to  make  us  feel  the 
quiet  of  an  English  Sabbath. 

How  does  the  spirit  of  the  day  contrast  with  that  of  Christmas? 

What  are  the  feelings  that  you  have  when  you  read  this 
description? 

What  new  feelings  do  you  have  when  the  old  woman  is  de- 
scribed? 

Can  you  imagine  the  tolling  of  the  bell? 

Is  it  a  pleasant  sound  to  you? 

You  pity  the  poor  woman;  what  feelings  have  you  for  the  well- 
fed  priest? 

Why  did  he  treat  the  old  woman  with  such  indifference? 

How  does  Irving  feel  toward  the  poor?    Toward  the  rich? 

Contrast  the  feeling  that  you  have  when  you  finish  this  story, 
with  your  feelings  on  ending  the  Christmas  stories. 

If  you  had  been  writing  the  story  of  the  widow  would  you 
have  ended  it  differently?    Why? 

Do  you  think  that  the  great  writers  end  all  of  their  stories 
happily? 

Why  is  it  undesirable  always  to  have  a  happy  ending? 

How  about  the  endings  of  Shakespeare's  plays?  of  Dickens' 
novels,  etc.? 

In  the  assignment  I  shall  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  life  of 
James  I.,  as  a  preparation  for  the  reading  of  the  sketch.  I  shall 
next  explain  the  meanings  of  some  of  the  difficult  words  and 


428  APPENDIX  C 

passages.  I  shall  then  ask  the  class  to  keep  in  mind  such  ques- 
tions as  the  following  in  their  reading  of  the  sketch: — 

In  what  mood  did  Irving  write  this  sketch? 

Select  five  adjectives  that  indicate  this  mood;  select  five  ad- 
jectives from  the  Christmas  stories  that  give  the  mood  of  the 
author  when  he  wrote  these  sketches;  in  a  similar  way  select 
five  adjectives  that  indicate  Irving's  feelings  when  he  wrote  the 
story  of  the  widow. 

When  an  artist  wishes  to  make  us  know  his  feelings  in  his 
paintings  how  does  he  do  it? 

When  a  writer  wishes  to  convey  to  us  his  feelings  how  does 
he  do  it? 

What  does  the  term  word-artist  mean  to  you? 

According  to  Irving,  what  are  some  of  the  things  essential  to 
the  imagination  of  a  poet? 

How  was  it  possible  for  James  imprisoned  still  to  live  in  the 
world  outside? 

How  can  you  live  at  the  present  moment  in  a  world  outside 
of  the  classroom? 

In  what  sense  was  the  imprisonment  of  James  an  aid  to  his 
fancy? 

Is  there  anything  in  the  character  of  James  while  in  prison 
that  would  indicate  what  he  would  be  when  released? 

In  what  mood  does  Irving  end  the  sketch?  Has  he  impressed 
you  at  all  with  this  mood? 

Explain  this  statement, — The  great  writer  is  he  who  makes 
his  readers  see  as  he  sees,  and  feel  as  he  feels. 

Would  you  call  Irving  a  great  writer?    Why? 

Questions  asked. — I  shall  ask  practically  no  questions  of  the 
drill  or  informational  type.  Some  will  be  thought  questions 
of  the  intellectual  type,  but  the  great  majority  will  be  questions 
of  appreciation. 

Illustrations  used. — I  shall  ask  the  class  to  recall  in  imagina- 
tion Christmas  scenes  similar  to  those  described  by  Irving.    I 


APPENDIX  C  429 


shall  ask  them  to  picture  in  their  mind's  eye  some  poor  and 
feeble  woman  that  they  have  seen;  some  eccentric  character 
they  have  known,  etc. 

In  attempting  to  bring  out  the  fact  that  the  writer  puts  his 
own  feelings  into  his  work  through  "word  painting/'  I  shall 
make  a  comparison  between  a  photograph  and  a  painting,  with 
the  purpose  of  showing  that  the  painter  creates  the  scene  and 
does  not  copy  it  as  it  exists  in  nature.  He  colors  it  to  suit  his 
thoughts  and  moods. 

(c)  Results. — I  am  not  sure  but  that  I  aimed  too  high  in 
this  lesson.  I  think  that  about  half  of  the  class  got  some  real 
appreciation  of  Irving  as  an  artist,  but  I  am  sure  that  what  I 
said  was  above  the  heads  of  a  good  many  in  the  class.  It  would 
have  been  much  easier  for  me  to  have  taught  the  lesson  merely 
as  a  collection  of  incidents  and  facts;  to  have  impressed  upon  the 
class  the  story,  and  have  been  contented  with  that.  However, 
I  cannot  feel  that  I  should  have  been  teaching  literature  if  I 
had  done  this  and  nothing  more.  I  have  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  some  of  the  class  at  least,  obtained  an  insight  into 
Irving's  art. 

Latin 

A.  Materials  covered  in  the  lesson. 

(a)  Review. — The  review  lesson  considered  the  declension  of 
the  irregular  adjectives  alius,  alter,  neuter,  nullus,  solus,  totus, 
ullus,  unus,  uter,  uterque,  ending  in  ius  in  the  genitive  singular 
and  i  in  the  dative  singular  of  all  genders;  in  addition  to  the 
declension  of  the  adjectives,  the  lesson  included  their  use  in 
such  idioms  as:  alter — alter  =  the  one — the  other,  alius — 
alius  m  one — another,  etc.  There  are  also  a  Latin-English 
exercise  and  three  sentences  to  be  translated  from  English  into 
Latin.    (10-12  min.). 

(b)  Advance. — The  advance  lesson  takes  up  the  infinitives, 
present,  perfect  and  future,  active  and  passive,  of  verbs  of  all 


430  APPENDIX  C 

four  conjugations,  with  their  meanings  and  their  use  in  sen- 
tences, as  subject  or  as  complementary  infinitives;  the  use  of 
the  accusative  case  as  subject  of  an  infinitive  is  also  illustrated 
in  the  lesson.  The  lesson  also  includes  a  reading  lesson,  a 
vocabulary  exercise,  and  a  Latin-English  exercise.  (18-20 
min.). 

(c)  Assignment. — For  the  next  lesson  we  shall  take  up  in- 
direct statements  and  the  manner  of  expressing  them  in  Latin, 
by  the  infinitive  with  subject  accusative;  we  shall  also  consider 
the  use  of  the  various  tenses  of  infinitive,  present,  perfect,  and 
future,  to  express  time  relative  to  that  of  the  main  verb.  The 
advance  lesson  also  includes  three  English-Latin  sentences,  a 
vocabulary  and  a  Latin-English  exercise.    (10-14  rnin.). 

B.  Outline  of  the  lesson  in  detail. 

(a)  The  aim. — In  this  lesson,  I  shall  aim  to  familiarize  the 
pupils  with  the  declension  and  use  of  the  irregular  adjectives 
previously  mentioned,  and  with  the  various  infinitives,  active 
and  passive,  with  their  meanings  and  use  in  sentences.  In  the 
assignment,  I  shall  try  to  give  the  pupils  an  understanding  of 
what  indirect  statements  are,  and  how  they  are  expressed  in 
Latin. 

(b)  Method. — At  the  beginning  of  the  period,  we  shall  have  a 
short  test,  covering  the  advance  and  review  lessons;  the  questions 
will  be  somewhat  as  follows: — (1)  Decline  solus-a-um.  (2)  Give 
the  six  infinitives  of  rego.  (3)  Translation  of  a  Latin  sentence. 
(4)  Translation  of  an  English  sentence. 

After  the  test,  I  shall  drill  the  pupils  on  the  vocabulary,  using 
perception  cards,  on  which  are  printed  the  various  words  (in 
the  vocabulary).  In  the  work  on  vocabulary,  the  card  is  pre- 
sented to  the  class  as  a  whole;  after  a  pause  of  a  few  seconds,  an 
individual  pupil  is  called  upon;  he  pronounces  the  word,  gives 
the  English  meaning,  and,  in  the  case  of  nouns,  proceeds  to 
give  the  genitive  case  and  the  gender;  as,  for  example: — Peri- 


. 


APPENDIX  C  431 


lum,  danger;  periculum,  -i,  n.  In  the  case  of  verbs,  the  pupil 
gives  the  meaning  and  then  the  principal  parts. 

In  the  review  work,  I  shall  call  for  the  declension  of  one  or 
two  of  the  irregular  adjectives.  In  taking  up  the  infinitives, 
I  shall  call  for  the  infinitives  of  various  verbs  with  their  mean- 
ings, and  I  shall  have  pupils  write  the  infinitives  of  other  verbs 
on  the  blackboard.  I  shall  also  take  up  the  translation  of  ori- 
ginal sentences  containing  infinitives,  working  out  the  transla- 
tion with  the  class,  and  writing  the  sentences  on  the  front  board 
as  they  are  developed.  Examples  of  sentences  follow: — "The 
soldiers  wish  to  be  brave  and  bold."  "The  general  is  said  to 
have  been  captured."  "The  king  wishes  the  citizens  to  be 
faithful."  In  taking  up  the  English-Latin  sentences,  which  are 
review  work,  I  shall  have  individual  pupils  write  the  translation 
on  the  board,  with  suggestions  and  corrections  from  the  class, 
or  if  time  does  not  permit,  I  shall  write  the  sentences  working 
with  the  class. 

In  connection  with  the  translation  of  the  Latin-English  exer- 
cises, I  shall  read  each  sentence  in  Latin,  aiming  to  read  in  such 
a  way  as  to  bring  out  the  sense  of  the  sentence;  after  a  pause,  to 
allow  pupils  time  for  thought,  I  shall  call  upon  a  particular 
pupil  to  translate.  If  there  is  a  mistake  in  the  translation,  I 
shall  first  mention  the  word  incorrectly  translated,  in  order  to 
focus  the  attention  of  the  pupil  on  the  word  before  asking  any 
questions;  then  I  shall  ask  for  the  case  of  the  word,  the  manner 
of  translating  such  a  case,  etc.,  in  order  to  make  the  pupil  see 
his  mistake  and  correct  his  translation.  I  shall  also  ask  for  other 
constructions,  even  though  correctly  translated,  to  bring  out 
important  points  of  syntax. 

After  all  this  comes  the  assignment,  which,  as  was  said  be- 
fore, has  to  do  with  indirect  statements.  I  shall  proceed  some- 
what as  follows: — I  shall  ask  the  class  to  recall  our  definition 
of  indirect  questions.  I  shall  ask  such  questions  as  the  follow- 
ing:— Give  an  example  of  a  direct  question. — What  are  you 


432  APPENDIX  C 

doing?  Make  that  an  indirect  question. — He  asks  what  you 
are  doing.  From  this,  define  an  indirect  question.  Now,  in- 
stead of  questions,  let  us  consider  statements.  Give  an  example 
of  a  direct  statement. — You  are  reading.  An  indirect  state- 
ment; He  says  that  you  are  reading.  Now,  define  an  indirect 
statement.  We  shall  now  proceed  to  the  manner  of  expressing 
such  statements.  I  shall  take  the  example  of  the  direct  state- 
ment given: — You  are  reading,  and  the  indirect  statement: 
Dicit  te  legere,  pointing  out  the  changes  that  take  place:  namely, 
the  verb  of  the  direct  statement  becomes  the  infinitive,  and 
the  subject  of  the  verb  becomes  the  accusative,  the  subject  of 
the  infinitive;  I  shall  also  point  out  the  literal  translation  of  the 
sentence:  He  says  you  to  write;  and  hence,  he  says  that  you 
write.  I  shall  now  ask  the  class  to  formulate  a  rule  regarding 
the  translation  of  indirect  statements.  I  shall  now  turn  to  the 
expression  of  time,  present,  past,  or  future,  in  relation  to  the 
main  verb.  I  shall  use  the  example  in  the  book,  (i)  He  says 
he  is  writing;  literal: — He  says  himself  to  write;  expressed  by 
the  present  infinitive — same  time  as  that  of  main  verb.  (2)  He 
says  he  has  written;  literal:  He  says  himself  to  have  written — 
expressed  by  perfect  infinitive — time  before  that  of  the  main 
verb.  (3)  He  says  he  will  write;  literal:  He  says  himself  to  be 
about  to  write;  future  infinitive — time  after  that  of  the  main  verb. 

If  there  is  any  time  left,  I  shall  take  simple  indirect  state- 
ments, and  have  the  class  give  the  literal  English  order  first, 
and  then  translate  them  into  Latin.  In  this  way,  I  shall  at- 
tempt to  give  pupils  an  understanding  of  indirect  statements 
and  their  translation  into  Latin. 

(c)  Results. — I  succeeded  in  covering  the  entire  lesson,  as 
planned,  with  the  exception  of  a  part  of  the  assignment.  I  was 
obliged  to  hurry  somewhat  at  the  end.  I  should  have  cut  down 
by  a  few  minutes  the  time  set  aside  for  the  review  and  advance, 
or  have  given  the  assignment  earlier  in  the  lesson.  Both  the 
review  and  advance  went  well  today.     I  find  that  the  class  is 


APPENDIX  C  433 

improving  both  in  interest  and  accomplishment.  There  are 
three  or  four  pupils,  however,  who  are  failing  far  too  often. 
These  I  am  keeping  after  school  and  giving  them  individual 
instruction. 

English 

lesson  in  english  grammar 

A.  Materials  covered  in  the  lesson. 

(a)  Review. — The  review  consists  of  a  test  on  a  grammar 
exercise  written  in  class  under  supervision  and  corrected  orally 
in  class,  embodying  the  use  of  active  and  passive  in  various 
tenses,  and  of  an  oral  drill  on  the  passive  conjugation.    (10  min.) 

(b)  Advance. — The  advance  will  take  up  the  subject  of  par- 
ticiples and  participial  phrases.  As  this  is  a  new  topic  not  pre- 
pared by  the  class,  it  is  in  the  nature  of  an  assignment.   (20  min.) 

(c)  Assignment. — The  assignment  will  consist  of  a  test  on  the 
work  in  participles  as  taken  up  in  the  advance,  based  on  the 
section  in  the  grammar,  and  of  ten  words  for  spelling  and  ten 
pages  in  the  Odyssey.  The  pupils  understand  that  they  will 
be  tested  for  the  story  of  what  they  read  in  the  Odyssey.  Some 
of  the  difficulties  in  the  spelling  words  will  be  pointed  out  and 
explained.     (15  min.) 

B.  Outline  of  the  lesson  in  detail. 

(a)  Aim. — The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  give  a  thorough  intro- 
duction to  the  subject  of  participles,  showing  their  use  in  the 
sentence,  and  avoiding  confusion  with  the  infinitive  (which  in 
the  book  is  put  in  the  same  lesson).  The  more  ultimate  aim  is 
the  improvement  of  composition  work  for  which  this  technical 
knowledge  is  necessary. 

(b)  Method. — After  the  test  on  the  review,  I  shall  go  over  the 
review  of  the  passive  conjugation  orally  to  form  a  transition  to 
the  new  work  and  remind  pupils  of  the  method  of  forming  tenses. 

I  shall  then  ask  them  to  open  the  grammars  to  the  lesson  on 
participles  given  there, — that  it  is  partly  a  verb,  having  tense 


434  APPENDIX  C 

and  voice,  and  partly  either  noun  or  adjective  according  to  its 
use  in  the  sentence. 

I  shall  then  go  over  with  them  the  paradigm,  calling  its  pe- 
culiarities to  their  attention  by  asking,  for  instance,  what  tense 
and  voice  of  the  participle  has  a  progressive  form. 

Then  I  shall  ask  the  class  to  form,  with  the  paradigm  as  a 
model,  the  various  participles  of  other  verbs,  calling  for  a  cer- 
tain form  and  then  calling  on  a  pupil  for  the  answer.  As  for 
instance,  "What  is  the  present  active  participle  of  the  verb 
take?  The  passive  perfect?  The  present  perfect  progressive? 
What  is  the  perfect  passive  participle  of  sing?  "  etc.  I  shall  skip 
around  in  the  tenses,  and  shall  also  go  through  all  the  tenses  in 
order  with  the  same  verb  to  form  a  sort  of  synopsis. 

Before  the  class  comes  in,  I  shall  write  on  the  blackboard  ten 
sentences  illustrating  participles  and  participial  phrases.  At 
the  proper  place  in  the  lesson  I  shall  turn  to  these,  and  reading 
a  sentence  aloud,  ask  the  class  what  participle  there  is  in  it  and 
what  tense  and  voice  this  form  is.  In  this  way  there  is  practice 
both  in  forming  and  in  recognizing  the  various  tenses.  I  shall 
also  read  aloud  sentences  illustrating  the  different  tenses  of  the 
participle,  as, — "Having  been  walking  all  day,  they  were  tired." 
"He  did  not  like  being  taken  for  an  actor.,, 

I  shall  then  proceed  to  the  next  part  of  the  subject,  the  use 
of  the  participle  in  the  sentence.  Here  I  shall  refer  again  to  our 
definition,  showing  how  we  have  been  working  on  the  verbal  side 
of  the  participle,  its  tense  and  voice,  and  are  now  to  look  at  it 
as  an  adjective  or  noun. 

I  shall  read  the  examples  of  the  two  uses  given  in  the  book 
and  ask  the  pupils  to  see  why  the  phrase  is  noun  or  adjective, 
as, — "Seeing  your  difficulty,  I  will  help  you."  What  does 
seeing  modify?  (Answer,  I.)  That  is  why  it  is  called  adjective, 
it  modifies  the  pronoun.  "Playing  tennis  is  good  exercise." 
Why  is  playing  a  noun?  What  part  of  the  sentence  is  it?  (An- 
swer, subject.)     Then  I  can  explain  that  the  participle  is  a 


APPENDIX  C  435 

noun  or  gerund  if  it  is  used  in  the  way  a  noun  would  be  used,  as 
subject  or  object. 

I  shall  then  take  up  the  sentences  on  the  board  and  oral  sen- 
tences and  ask  the  pupils  to  tell  what  kind  of  phrases  the  par- 
ticipial phrases  are,  always  demanding  reasons  for  their  answers. 
"He  did  not  like  being  taken  for  an  actor."  (Answer,  gerund.) 
Why?  Because  it  is  the  direct  object  of  "like."  The  sentences 
chosen  illustrated  as  many  uses  as  possible  of  the  noun  clause, 
i.  e., — as  subject,  object,  appositive,  and  object  of  a  preposition. 

As  a  form  of  application,  I  shall  take  up  the  changing  of 
clauses  into  participial  phrases  in  an  exercise  in  the  book,  con- 
sidering also  which  form  of  expression  is  preferable  in  the  sen- 
tences. 

I  shall  then  assign  a  test  on  forming  and  distinguishing  the 
participles  and  phrases. 

(c)  Results. — The  interest  and  attention  of  the  class  were  very 
good.  The  test  next  day  showed  ability  on  the  part  of  the  class 
in  identifying  forms  but  not  in  forming  the  tenses  and  voices 
themselves. 

A  later  lesson  was  utilized  to  bring  out  the  practical  uses  of 
this  work  in  the  composition  work.  The  class  were  led  to  work 
out  inductively  the  construction  of  the  participial  phrase  in  the 
sentence,  and  then  to  correct  the  errors  made  in  their  composi- 
tions in  its  use.  Their  work  was  much  better  for  the  drill  which 
we  had  had  in  the  grammatical  side  of  the  work. 

German 

a  lesson  taught  by  a  combination  of  direct  and  grammar 
methods,  the  so-called  reform  method 

A.  Materials  covered  in  the  lesson. 

(a)  Review. — Such  as  may  arise  in  developing  the  new  sub- 
ject of  relative  pronouns,  as  for  instance  the  declensions  of  the 
different  kinds  of  pronouns  already  studied.     (5-10  min.) 


436  APPENDIX  C 

(b)  Advance. — The  assignment  yesterday  consisted  of  read- 
ing and  explaining  an  interesting  account  of  Wintersport  in 
Germany.  The  class  was  then  assigned  to  write  in  German  an 
account  of  the  Wintersport  which  each  one  of  them  had  partici- 
pated in.  The  papers  will  be  collected  and  marked  according 
to  grammar  and  originality.  (All  the  time  necessary  will  be 
used  to  develop  the  subject  of  relative  pronouns  with  the  many 
different  uses.)     (10-15  min.) 

(c)  Assignment. — The  assignment  will  consist  entirely  of  the 
development  of  the  subject  of  relative  pronouns.  The  ordinary 
relative  pronouns  der  and  welch  will  be  considered  first.  Then 
the  uses  of  wer  and  was,  as  relative  pronouns,  if  they  can  be 
translated  as  he  who,  whoever,  and  that  which,  whatever.  The  dif- 
ferent paradigms  illustrating  these  relative  pronouns  will  be 
put  on  the  board  and  the  class  will  enter  these  into  their  note- 
books. A  sentence-paradigm  illustrating  the  use  of  the  relative 
pronoun  das  will  be  put  on  the  board  and  also  assigned.  With 
this  as  a  model  the  class  is  to  prepare  the  masculine  and  feminine 
relative  pronouns  in  sentence-paradigms.     (20-30  min.) 

B.  Outline  of  the  lesson  in  detail. 

(a)  Aim. — The  aim  of  this  lesson  is  to  present  to  the  class  the 
subject  of  relative  pronouns. 

(b)  Method. — The  method  of  procedure  is  on  the  whole  one 
which  develops  from  what  the  class  already  know  about  pro- 
nouns in  German  and  from  what  they  know  about  relative  pro- 
nouns in  English  grammar.  (The  subject  of  relative  pronouns 
and  their  uses  has  always  been  one  of  great  difficulty.  In  com- 
mon, everyday  speech,  who  and  whom  are  constantly  being 
interchanged.  Who  did  you  see?  instead  of  whom  did  you  see? 
If  a  sharp  distinction  is  drawn  between  the  uses  of  the  relative 
pronouns  in  English  grammar  at  once,  some  of  the  difficulty 
which  will  be  met  with  in  the  German  uses  of  the  relative  pro- 
nouns will  be  overcome.) 


APPENDIX  C  437 

In  developing  the  subject,  I  ask  first  questions  dealing  with 
review  subjects: 

Was  fur  Furworter  haben  wir  schon  bis  jetzt  studiert?  die 
personlichen  Furworter,  die  unpersonlichen  Furworter,  die 
Frage-Fiirworter,  die  unbestimmten  Furworter,  die  Besitz- 
Fiirworter,  und  die  hinweisenden  Furworter.  These  are  put  on 
the  board  with  examples. 

Questions  asked:  Was  bleibt  noch  iibrig  in  dem  Subject  der 
Furworter?  (die  Relativen.) 

Was  sind  diese  auf  Englisch?  (who,  whose,  whom,  which,  etc.). 

(Dann  werden  Beispiele  auf  Englisch  verlangt.  Der  grosze 
Unterschied  zwischen  who  und  whom,  wo  gewohnlich  so  viele 
Fehler  gefunden  werden,  wird  klar  auseinander  gesetzt.  Dann 
fange  ich  sofort  mit  dem  Deutschen,  in  Konversation  an.) 

Wie  heiszt  der  Knabe,  der  vor  mir  sitzt? 

Wer  ist  der  Knabe,  dessen  Buch  ich  nehme? 

Wie  heiszt  der  Knabe,  neben  dem  er  sitzt? 

Was  gebe  ich  dem  Knaben,  den  ich  sehe? 

Was  lesen  die  Knaben,  die  hier  sind? 

Wie  heiszen  die  Knaben,  deren  Biicher  ich  nehme? 

Lesen  die  Knaben  mit  denen  ich  spreche,  Deutsch? 

Was  sprechen  die  Knaben,  die  ich  sehe? 

Dasselbe  wird  nun  mit  einem  weiblichen  Hauptwort  getan, — 
die  Dame,  zum  Beispie,  and  auch  mit  einem  sachlichen  Haupt- 
wort, das  Buch.  Dann  schreibe  ich  die  Deklination  an  die 
Tafel: 


der 

die 

das 

die 

dessen 

deren 

dessen 

deren 

dem 

der 

dem 

denen 

den 

die 

das 

die 

An  der  Tafel  unter  einer  Karte  steht  schon  geschrieben,  die 
Deklination  von  dem  relativen  Fiirwort  das  in  Satzen. 
Das  buch,  das  auf  dem  Tische  liegt,  ist  das  meinige. 


43&  APPENDIX  C 

Das  Buch,  dessen  Bilder  schon  sind,  ist  ein  Deutsches. 

Das  Buch,  in  dem  (worin)  so  viele  Bilder  sind,  ist  blau. 

Das  Buch,  das  ich  in  der  Hand  habe,  ist  nicht  das  meinige. 

Die  Bucher,  die  auf  dem  Tische  liegen,  sind  grosz. 

Die  Bucher,  deren  Schrift  Deutsch  ist,  sind  interessant. 

Die  Bucher,  in  dem  (worin)  wir  Geschichten  lesen,  sind  schwer. 

Die  Bucher,  die  wir  kaufen,  kosten  viel  Geld. 

Die  Klasse  soil  fur  das  nachste  Mai  solche  Satzen  schreiben 
und  dabei  ein  mannliches  und  ein  weibliches  Hauptwort  ge- 
brauchen. 

Dann  erklare  ich,  dass  welch  auch  ein  relatives  Furwort  ist, 
und  wird  wie  das  Frage-Furwort  dekliniert  mit  Ausnahme  des 
Genitivs,  der  derselbe  ist  wie  bei-  der,  die,  das.  Welch  wird 
auch  wie  ein  Adjectiv  benutzt.  Die  Deklination  des  welch  wird 
auf  die  Tafel  geschrieben. 

Wer  und  was  benutzt  als  relative  Furworter  werden  jetzt 
durch  Beispiele  erklart.  Die  Deklination  ist  dieselbe  wie  die 
der  Frage-Furworter. 

Unter  einer  anderen  Karte  steht  folgendes  geschrieben: 

i.  The  ordinary  relative  pronouns  are  der  and  welch;  who, 
which  and  what. 

2.  Wer  and  was  are  used  as  compound  or  indefinite  relatives; 
he  who,  whoever;  that  which,  whatever. 

3.  Was  is  used  instead  of  das  after  any  neuter  pronoun  or 
adjective  taken  in  a  general  sense:  nicht  alles,  was  glanzt,  ist 
Gold. 

4.  In  relative  clauses  the  inflected  verb  comes  last. 

5.  The  relative  pronoun  agrees  with  its  antecedent  in  gender 
and  number,  but  not  necessarily  in  case. 

6.  Either  relative  may  refer  to  a  person  or  a  thing. 

7.  Welch  is  used  as  an  adjective. 

8.  The  relative  clause  is  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  sen- 
tence by  commas.  Diese  Regeln  werden  in  die  Hefte  ge- 
schrieben. 


APPENDIX  C  439 


(c)  Results. — The  introduction  by  way  of  review  of  kinds  of 
pronouns  and  of  English  relatives  was  worth  while  and  went 
well.  It  gave  the  boys  a  foundation,  something  they  could  rely 
upon  as  reference.  It  made  the  subject  of  German  relative  pro- 
nouns clearer  and  more  easily  understood.  Evidently  my  ques- 
tions in  developing  the  paradigm  of  der,  die,  das  were  very  clear 
and  always  understood,  for  responses  came  readily  and  quickly. 
The  boys  seem  to  be  alert  and  ready  to  enter  into  the  grammar 
"game"  we  seemed  to  be  playing.  Interest  and  attention  were 
excellent. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS 


(See  additional  list  of  names  in  bibliography) 


Adams,  J.,  262,  267,  269 
Bagley,  W.  C,  53  (note),  60  (note), 
61,  102,  no,  178,  235,  304,  306, 

307,  329 
Bird,  G.  E.,  55 
Book,  W.  F.,  55, 179 
Boyce,  A.  C,  52,  53 
Briggs,  T.  H.,  8  (note) 
Brown,  H.  A.,  5  (note) 
Brown,  J.  S.,  364,  371 
Brown,  R.  M.,  268 
Bryan,  W.  L.,  179 
Buellesfield,  H.,  54,  55 
Clapp,  F.  L.,  53 
Coffman,  L.  D.,  51 
Comenius,  J.  A.,  250 
Cornman,  O.  P.,  177 
Courtis,  S.  A.,  177 
Dummer,  R.  O.,  263 
Eliot,  C.  W.,  18  (note),  253 
Farrington,  F.  E.,  43  (note) 
Flexner,  A.,  18  (note) 
Hill,  L.  B.,  179 
Hillegas,  M.  B.,  160, 161 
Hall,  G.  S.,  115 
Harter,  N.,  179 
James,  W.,  188,  246 
Judd,  C.  H.,  255,  269,  272,  28s 
Mann,  C.  R.,  318 


McMurry,   F.   and    C,   237,    275, 

299 
Merriam,  J.  L.,  370 
Minnick,  J.  H.,  364 
Montessori,  M.,  121,  198,  252 
Moore,  E.  C,  318,  319 
Moses,  Cleda,  54 
Miinsterberg,  H.,  115 
Parker,  S.  C,  236,  287,  288 
Pestalozzi,  J.  H.,  250,  253 
Ramsay,  W.,  262 
Rejall,  A.  E.,  179 
Rice,  J.  M.,  177 
Rousseau,  J.  J.,  106,  115,  250 
Smith,  D.  E.,  270 
Snedden,  D.,  164,  165 
Spencer,  Herbert,  106,  318 
Stevens,  R.,  225,  237,  316,  317,  319, 

320,  322,  323,  325,  328,  331,  332 
Strayer,  G.  D.,  37 
Swift,  E.  J.,  179 
Thorndike,  E.  L.,  37,  48  (note),  50, 

Si>  73>  *79  an<3  note,  180, 181, 183, 

184,  187,  191,  200,  236,  291,  296 
Van  Denberg,  J.  K.,  36,  37 
Veblen,  T.,  73 
Watson,  J.,  179,  184 
Wiener,  W.,  364,  370 
Yerkes,  R.  M.,  179 


441 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 

Ability  of  high  school  pupils,  38;  individual  differences  in,  363,  364 

Adolescence,  characteristics  of,  22-36 

Adolescent  interest  in  philosophy,  78 

Advance  lesson,  the,  334,  335 

^Esthetic  interest,  35 

Agricultural  courses,  10 

Aid  of  pupils,  unwise,  363 

Aims,  of  the  American  secondary  school,  5,  6;  of  instruction,  335-351;  ex- 
amples of,  in  lesson  plans,  414,  418,  422,  426,  430,  433,  436;  too  compre- 
hensive, 346;  formal,  346;  too  many,  348;  lack  of  coherence  in,  349;  repeti- 
tion of,  347;  nature  of  immediate,  340-342;  faults  in  the  statement  of 
immediate,  344-351;  vague,  344,  345;  confused  with  methods,  349-351; 
should  be  known  to  the  pupil,  296,  376;  function  of  ultimate,  336,  337. 
(See  also  Objectives.) 

Alertness  of  class,  64-68 

Analysis,  methods  of,  297 

Answers,  repetition  of,  332 

Appeal  to  parents,  125 

Application  the  final  step  in  thinking,  298    . 

Appreciation,  35,  71, 103, 164, 165, 176,  231,  245,  246,  262,  291, 306, 311, 341, 
343,  344,  358,  361,  426,  428,  429 

Appreciative  judgment,  293 

Assignment,  the,  141,  227,  228,  242,  284,  329,  335,  371,  376,  377,  408;  essen- 
tials of,  235-241;  illustrations  of,  417,  419,  422,  425"433>  43^ 

Attention,  devices  for  stimulating  and  holding  the,  62-69;  in  learning,  185, 
186,  197;  in  thinking,  283;  methods  of  securing,  403 

Attitude,  of  the  pupil,  145-149, 185,  234,  337,  344,  376,  399, 400, 410;  of  the 
teacher,  234,  396-398,  402,  406 

Blackboard,  the,  62, 130, 132-137, 167, 168, 169, 194, 356, 406, 408, 411, 413* 

423,  434,  435,  437,  438 
Brown  University,  48,  74, 160, 187,  203 

Careless  pupil,  the,  90 
Chicago,  University  of,  47 

442 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS  443 

Child-study  movement,  the,  115 

Circular  activity,  183 

Class,  disturbance,  118,  119;  experiment,  257 

Class-foremen,  104,  132 

Clay  modeling,  74 

Collateral  reading,  380 

Comments  of  teachers,  64,  224-226,  406 

Communal  Colleges  of  France,  2,  42,  233 

Concept-building,  280 

Conceptual  process,  the,  288,  290 

Conservatism  in  secondary  education,  18 

Consistency  in  learning,  188-190 

Continuation  courses,  15 

Conversation  method,  the,  of  instruction,  316 

Cooperative  class,  the,  28,  29,  98,  99,  120,  137,  148,  149,  220,  286,  333,  381, 

409,410 
Copy,  essential  characteristics  of  the,  193-195 
Corporal  punishment,  116 
Courses  of  study  in  the  high  school,  8-15 
Courtis  tests,  the,  158 

Cultural  education,  8,  31,  34, 138,  213;  values,  338-340 
Curiosity,  33;  of  anticipating  results,  307 
Curricula  of  secondary  schools,  3 

Deductive  development  lesson,  in  high  school  teaching,  302-308;  the  two 

functions  of,  307 
Demonstrations,  68,  194,  252,  256,  257,  260,  263,  264,  272 
Developing  the  lesson,  137,  408 
Diagrams,  the  purpose  of,  246 
Dictation  exercises,  waste  of,  138-140 
Discipline,  53,  54,  59-61;  indirect,  causes  contributing  to,  62-82;  important 

maxims  of,  125-127;  firmness  at  the  start  in,  401;  problem  of,  as  seen  by 

the  novice,  138,  395-404 
Disciplinary,  control,  types  of,  68,  94-104;  education,  8,  31,  138,  206,  208, 

209,  213,  276;  problems,  83-94;  values,  337"339 
Discussion  of  faults  with  pupils,  94-97,  106 
Dishonesty,  30,  93,  94,  100,  101,  no,  in,  117,  118,  123,  124 
Dismissal  from  class  as  a  form  of  punishment,  in,  118,  119 
Dramatization  as  a  form  of  illustration,  120,  260-262 
Drill,  141, 145;  its  value,  177-181;  economy  in,  199-223;  maxims  of,  221-223; 


444  INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS 

in  concert,  218;  waste  in  oral,  216-219;  character  of  individual  drill,  213, 
222,  411;  groups,  215,  216 
Drilling,  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many,  216,  222;  for  efficiency,  408 

Egoistic  pupil,  the,  88,  89 

Elimination  of  high  school  pupils,  38,  39 

End  spurt,  the,  376 

Errors,  of  pupils,  152-154, 159,  216,  $73, 408, 411, 412;  method  of  correction, 

135-137,  270,  271 
Evening  courses,  15 
Excess  activity  in  learning,  191-193 
Experience  in  teaching,  45,  50,  53,  54 

Facts,  basal  to  thinking,  309 

Fatigue,  mental,  142-145 

Five  Formal  Steps  of  instruction  in  high  school  teaching,  295-302,  349,  350 

Gang  spirit,  the,  91 

Generalization,  essential  to  thinking,  298 

Giggling,  89 

Growth  of  the  high  school,  4 

Guessing  in  science,  308 

Gymnasium,  the,  2,  60,  233,  260 

Habit,  73;  specific  nature  of,  207,  208,  222;  propensity  of,  73;  proper  se- 
quence in,  204;  elimination  of  unnecessary  elements  in,  205 

Habit-formation,  laws  of,  181, 182;  attention  in  initial  stages  of,  204 

Habits,  hierarchy  of,  181 

Handwriting,  scales  of,  158 

Harvard-Newton  Scale,  the,  160,  161 

High  standards  of  school  work,  60 

Hillegas  scale,  the,  160,  161 

Home  study,  unsatisfactory,  361-363 

Home-work,  16,  166 

Hygiene,  326;  mental,  146;  of  the  pupil,  23,  24,  142;  of  the  classroom,  130, 
373.  405,  406 

Ideal  teacher,  the,  57,  58 

Illustration,  nature  and  scope  of,  244-249,  411;  graphic,  74,  77,  78, 194,  2685 
of  general  principles,  411;  as  a  means  of  arousing  interest,  77;  through 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS  445 


analogy,  271;  through  bad  examples,  270,  271;  through  contrast,  271; 

through  example,  269;  through  graphs,  268,  269;  through  models,  charts, 

maps,  diagrams,  etc.,  267;  through  imagery,  246-248,  271;  of  the  past  by 

the  present,  248,413 
Illustrations,  examples  of,  417,  421,  425,  428,  429 
Illustrative  materials,  403,  404,  407 
Imagination  as  a  method  of  illustration,  411 
Improvability,  limits  of,  209-213,  222 
Impudence,  112,  118 
Individual  aid,  411 
Individuals,  knowledge  of,  380,  381 
Induction,  as  a  form  of  reasoning,  289-293;  and  deduction  compared,  288; 

in  English  grammar,  435;  examples  of,  419,  420 
Inductive,  development  lesson,  275;  process,  the,  limitations  of,  302-304; 

and  deductive  processes,  limitation  of,  308,  309 
Industrial  efficiency,  1 29-131 

Insolence,  86,  113  - 

Instinct,  migratory,  26;  sex,  25,  26;  gregarious,  27,  28, 121, 123;  property,  73; 

rivalry,  73;  manipulation,  74;  hoarding  and  collecting,  75,  115;  of  satisfy- 

ingness  of  mental  control,  7$;  of  workmanship,  73 
Instinctive  tendencies,  appeal  to,  409 
Instructional  skill,  52,  53 
Interest,  and  instinctive  tendencies,  72-75;  in  relation  to  work,  71,  72; 

fundamental  laws  of,  76-80;  measurement  of,  164,  165;  and  effort,  178; 

fundamental  misconceptions  in  regard  to  the  nature  of,  69-72;  initial,  in 

learning,  202;  in  school  subjects,  26,  27,  31,  34 
Interests  of  pupils;  knowledge  of  essential,  357 
Isolation  of  offending  pupil,  120-122 

Junior  College,  17,  18 

Junior  High  School,  16,  17,  156 

Keeping  the  pupil  after  school,  116,  117 
Knowledge  of  results  in  learning,  159,  187,  188 

Lecture  method,  the,  224 

Lesson-hearing,  136-138,  168-172,  175,  235,  360,  381,  407,  408,  412 
Lesson-plan,  the,  227,  398,  406;  prerequisites  of,  35^-359;  essentials  of,  334, 

335 
Local  environment  in  relation  to  instruction,  314 


446  INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS 

Loyalty,  28,  30,  57 
Lysee,  2,  42,  60,  233 

Maps,  133,  246,  267-269,  356 

Marks,  39,  75, 148,  155-165, 175,  4°9 

Memorizing  ideas,  379 

Method,  of  instruction,  related  to  aim,  S53,  354;  of  discovery,  292 

Methods  of  instruction,  essentials  of,  351-355;  as  seen  by  the  novice,  396- 

399;  examples  of  in  lesson-plans,  415-420,  422-428, 430-438 
Mischievous  pupil,  the,  89 
"Model"  high  schools,  47 
Moral  and  religious  interests,  30 
Motivation  of  work,  59,  60,  75,  98,  99, 162,  374,  376,  407,  409 

Native  ability  of  teacher,  45,  51 

Normal  courses,  12 

Normal  Colleges,  46 

Note- taking,  68,  220,  228-230,  380 

Objectives,  156,  164,  176,  208,  221,  276,  296,  311,  320,  331,  335~337,  344, 

346,  347,  35o,  353,  356,  377-    (See  also  Aims.) 
Objects,  cautions  to  be  observed  in  their  use,  254-256 
Object-teaching  as  a  method  of  instruction,  250-254 
Observation,  inaccuracy  of,  252,  253 

Oral,  drill,  186,  214,  216-219,  314,  315;  instruction,  224-234 
Outline,  the,  in  history  teaching,  286 
Outlines,  an  aid  to  study,  378,  379 
Over-zealous  pupil,  the,  87,  88 

Particulars  in  relation  to  general  principles,  283,  288,  296,  379, 380 

Part-time  courses,  14,  15 

Perception  cards,  430,  431 

Personality  of  the  teacher,  53,  81,  82,  85,  86,  399, 412 

Physical  changes  during  adolescence,  23,  24 

Pictures,  as  a  form  of  illustration,  254,  255,  265,  266 

Pleasurable  consequences  in  learning,  183-187 

Practical,  motives,  32,  212,  222,  299,  409;  values,  78-80,  138,  213,  263,  270, 

300,  336,  338-340,  412 
Practice  in  learning,  221 
Practice-teaching,  47,  48 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS  447 


Preparation,  of  the  mind  of  the  learner,  252,  254,  295;  of  the  teacher,  4i~45> 

Si>  53,  233,  234,  357,  358,  397,  398 
Private  secondary  schools  in  America,  5 

Problem,  attitude,  the,  325;  questions,  282,  414;  stating,  32,  33,  34,  281,  282 
Professional  ideals,  56,  57 
Projects,  358 

Prompt  beginning  of  work,  62,  375,  378,  379,  406 
Psychological  vs.  logical  order  in  teaching,  76,  221,  222 
Public  Schools  of  England,  2 
Punishment,  kinds  of,  no,  in,  1 16-124;  natural  and  artificial  compared, 

106-113;  double  function  of,  114,  115 

Qualities  of  merit  in  teachers,  52-58 

Question,  the,  as  a  test  for  knowledge,  310,  311;  the  multiple,  323 

Questioning,  65,  66,  68,  84,  103,  225;  function  of,  310-319;  hurried,  324; 
faults  in,  310-330,  407;  stimulates  thought,  316-319;  as  a  means  of  em- 
phasis, 314,  315;  as  a  method  of  class  control,  65 

Questions,  essentials  of,  330-333;  an  essential  part  of  the  lesson-plan,  355; 
repeated  and  rephrased,  321-323,  407;  indefinite,  324-327,  407;  pumping, 
329»  33°}  4°7'y  superficial,  329;  leading  and  suggestive,  327;  yes  and  no, 
327,  328;  tempo  of,  330;  poorly  phrased,  320,  321;  by  pupils,  148;  ad- 
dressed to  the  class,  137,  315,  407 

Rapid-fire  questions,  319,  320,  324,  408 

Rebellious  pupil,  the,  90-93 

Recall  in  learning,  377,  378 

Recapitulation  Theory,  115 

Reading,  silent,  66,  242 

Reading  interests,  33,  34 

Recitation,  the,  purpose  of,  381 

Reeducation,  188,  189 

Removal  of  privileges,  119,  120 

Repetition  in  learning,  182-187,  210 

Reproof,  122-124,  4°9 

Rest  periods,  143,  144 

Results,  statement  of  in  lesson-plan,  355,  356 

Review,  334,335,  375,  377,  403 

Reviews,  154,  15ft 

Rivalry,  73,  75,  409 

Routing  of  materials  and  pupils,  131-133 

Rules  of  conduct,  109,  no 


448  INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS 

Salaries  of  high  school  teachers,  41,  48,  49,  50,  51 

Sarcasm,  85,  in,  124 

Scales  to  measure  school  attainments,  158-165 

Schools  of  Education,  47 

Scolding  pupils,  122 

Seating  of  pupils,  29,  84,  131,  402,  405 

Secondary  schools  in  Europe,  2,  3,  4;  and  America  compared,  1-4 

Secondary  teachers  in  Europe,  42,  43 

Self-activity,  363,  365;  stimulated  by  questioning,  310;  the  basis  of  learning, 

79 

Sex-instruction,  25,  26 

Size  of  high  schools,  13,  14 

Skill,  pleasure  in  the  exercise  of,  72-74 

Social  status  of  high  school  pupils,  36,  37 

Social  tendencies,  28 

Socratic  Method,  the,  330 

Specialization  of  high  school  teachers,  43,  44 

Spelling,  drill  in,  212,  215,  216 

Stubbornness,  86,  95 

Student  government,  123 

Study  habits  necessary,  362 

Study  questions,  241 

Subject-matter,  knowledge  of,  398 

Success  of  teachers,  causes  of,  50-58 

Superior  pupil,  the,  211,  329,  373 

Supervised  study,  172, 198,  223,  240,  241,  284, 354, 408;  reasons  for,  361-364* 
favorable  results  of,  364;  objections  to,  364-368;  in  relation  to  self- 
activity,  365;  forms  of,  368-371;  in  relation  to  the  school  day,  367;  in  rela- 
tion to  school-rooms,  368;  expense  of,  366,  367;  in  relation  to  the  teacher's 
time,  365;  purpose  of,  371-373 

Sympathetic  understanding  of  pupils,  81,  82 

Tale-bearing,  30 

Teachers'  College,  Columbia  University,  18  (note),  46 

Technique  of  learning,  373-380 

Telling  method,  faults  of,  227,  228 

Tests,  variety  in,  173-175 

Testing  for  knowledge  and  skill,  152-154;  reasons  for,  151-156;  purpose  of, 

408 
Text-books,  merits  and  faults  of,  227,  228,  231-235;  use  of  by  teachers, 

236,  237 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS  449 


Thinking,  170;  transfer  of  training  in,  275,  276 

Thought,  an  aid  to  memory,  274;  gives  meaning  to  facts,  275;  furnishes 
methods  of  procedure,  275;  requires  active  attention,  283;  requires  selec- 
tion and  analysis,  284;  based  on  understanding  of  the  problem  involved, 
280,  281;  based  on  knowledge,  279,  280;  stimulated  by  a  genuine  difficulty, 
277,  278 

Thought  questions,  279,  303,  316-319,  329-332,  408 

Thought  process,  essential  elements  in,  277 

Thought  stimulation,  reasons  for,  274-276 

Trade  Schools,  3  (note),  6,  7 

Trial  and  error,  restricting  the  field  of,  193-198 

Truancy,  91,  92 

Unprepared  lesson,  the,  335,  369,  370 

Vicious  pupil,  the,  93,  106 

Vocational  education  (also  Pre-vocational  and  Semi- vocational),  6-15,  27, 

147,  212 
Vocational,  guidance,  156;  interest,  31,  32,  409 
Voice,  proper  quality  of,  230,  231 
Vorschide  of  Germany,  2 

Waste,  elimination,  128-147;  causes  of,  129-138;  in  oral  instruction,  227; 
in  note-taking,  229;  in  rambling  comments,  64,  226;  in  oral  drill,  315;  in 
questioning,  315, 407;  in  study,  362,  363;  in  beginning  work,  375;  in  finish- 
ing work,  376;  in  class-room,  406,  407 

Wasteful  methods  of  learning,  199,  216-219 

Whole  method  of  study,  66,  377 

Work  in  school,  attitude  of  pupils  and  parents  toward,  60 

Work,  as  a  disciplinary  measure,  402 

Written  quiz,  65,  67,  68,  138,  139,  140,  141,  155,  171,  172,  403;  superior  to 
oral  quiz,  327 

Written  vs.  oral  tests,  166, 167, 176,  326 

Written  work,  65, 68, 140, 403;  exercises,  316;  as  a  method  of  class  control,  65 

V 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

Agriculture,  75,  232 

Algebra,  65,  141,  153,  158,  163,  165,  187,  190,  193,  197,  201-203,  208,  211, 
212,  215,  241,  256,  269,  270,  271,  274,  278-281,  284,  285,  295,  304,  341, 

343-345,  348,  354,  355,  358,  374,  377 
Art,  35 

Biology,  25,  26,  74,  76,  232,  233,  252,  266,  280,  358 
Botany,  258,  307,  314,  325 
Chemistry,  78,  104,  182,  204,  232,  241,  246,  252,  256,  258,  263,  276,  280, 

285,  295, 304,  307,  341,  342,  346,  347,  35o,  358 
Civics,  32,  76,  232,  248,  256,  265,  266,  268,  358 
Commercial  Arithmetic,  137,  138 
Commercial  Courses,  n,  12,  27,  267,  286,  338 
Commerce,  266 

Current  Events,  29,  148,  220,  323 

Domestic  Arts,  9, 10,  74,  75,  77,  261-263,  287,  299,  338 

Economics,  266,  268,  358 

English  Composition,  32, 35,  68,  76,  77, 132, 135, 139, 141, 145, 154  158, 159, 

160, 161, 163, 182,  202,  206-208,  229,  237,  238,  240,  249,  267, 343, 345, 350, 

375;  oral,  217-220,  253 
English  Expression,  195,  201,  205,  206,  210,  211,  213-215,  217-220,  270,  271, 

306,  358,  413 
English  Grammar,  433"435 
English  Literature,  25,  27,  32,  34,  35,  66,  71,  72,  78, 120, 152,  163, 164, 165, 

170, 173,  228,  231,  238,  240,  241,  245,  246,  247,  260-262,  265,  266,  282,  283, 

286,  289-291,  294,  296,  299,  306,  309,  311,  312,  319,  320,  324-328,  331, 
336,  337-339,  342,  343,  345-347,  352,  353,  358,  369,  377, 4*3,  426-429 

Foreign  Language,  27,  66,  j6y  135,  152,  161,  167,  168,  186,  200-202,  204, 
205,  209,  213,  215,  217,  218,  221,  222,  240,  241,  269,  283,  285,  299,  304, 
306,  309,  315,  317,  319,  328,  337,  338,  369,  372,  374,  375,  377',  direct 
method,  27,  77,  193-195,  201,  206,  324,  358,  359,  413,  435~439-  (See  also 
French,  German,  Latin,  etc.) 

French,  32, 166, 173, *93, 194,  204,  206,  211,  336,  337, 342, 359 

Geography,  232,  251,  266 

Geology,  251 

45o 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION  45 1 


Geometry,  34,  74,  78,  136,  137,  140,  144,  152,  167,  171,  182,  204,  208,  241, 
255,  256,  259,  260,  266,  270,  274-276,  278-281,  285,  300,  301,  305,  325, 
343-347,  349,  358,  359,  364,  37^,  375,  377,  4©3,  404,  4*3 

German,  32,  140,  173,  201,  204,  206,  241,  275,  296,  297,  342,  343,  345,  350, 

359,  435-439 
Greek,  8,  70,  72 
History,  25,  27,  32,  66,  74,  78,  98,  99,  103,  138,  140,  141,  148,  152,  153,  163, 

164, 168, 169, 171, 172, 173, 174, 182, 189, 196,  204,  206,  211,  215,  225-227, 

237,  238-241,  242,  246-248,  265-267,  271-273,  276,  279,  280,  281,  282,  283, 

285,  286,  295,  299, 301, 302, 303, 305, 306, 309, 312-314, 3*7, 324,  325,  326, 

327, 328, 332,  336, 337, 338, 339, 341-346, 348, 35i,  353,  354,  358,  369,  372, 

374,  377,  378,  413,  414-417 
Laboratory  Instruction  and  Technique,  33,  34,  63,  64,  132,  133,  196,  197, 

208,  241,  257,  262,  263,  285,  337,  356,  358 
Latin,  32,  65,  135,  165,  169,  171,  174,  202,  203,  204,  206,  208,  210,  270,  271, 

275,  283,  295,  306, 318, 319, 341, 342, 344, 345, 347, 351, 359,  370,  429-433 
Manual  Arts,  8,  9,  10,  27,  74,  75,  76,  77,  161,  164,  173,  185,  194,  196,  202, 

208,  210,  259,  261-263,  287,  299,  338,  339,  358 
Mathematics,  32,  66,  78, 135, 161,  209,  210,  221,  240,  241,  268,  291,  299,  309, 

329,  338,  339,  358,  359,  372,  4*3-    (See  also  Algebra,  Geometry,  etc.) 
Physics,  63,  64,  75,  86,  166,  171,  174,  194,  209,  232,  252,  256-259,  261,  263, 

264,  270,  272,  280,  281,  285,  296,  300,  304,  305,  307,  322,  323,  325,  337, 

339,  341-344,  35i,  352,  418-421 
Physiology,  259,  307,  358 
Science,  27,  32,  33,  66,  76,  78, 164, 168, 173,  211,  240,  241,  252,  257,  263,  265, 

268,  283,  285,  291,  299,  309,  314,  328,  336,  338,  346,  413;  general  science, 

7o,  139,  232,  314,  342,  346,  359;  social  science,  232,  246,  248,  256,  282. 

(See  also  Physics,  Chemistry,  Biology,  etc.) 
Spanish,  32,  204 

Stenography,  72,  134,  161,  174,  202,  203,  206,  212,  271,  286,315 
Trigonometry,  270 


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